


Say Something

by telekinesiskid



Series: Silenced [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Aunt/Nephew Incest, Child Sexual Abuse, Emotional Incest (kinda maybe), Emotional Manipulation, Gradual Abuse, Silencing, child grooming, content is occasionally graphic, rape myths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-05 02:45:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3102659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telekinesiskid/pseuds/telekinesiskid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro was thrilled to have left school so soon and to be spending his days working on his own projects at home, alone. But he's not as alone as he thinks he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had all begun shortly after Hiro had graduated from high school. He had _relished_ in the fact that his big brother, with his earliest tertiary class beginning at ten o’clock, had to get up before he did. Oh, how the tables had turned. He laid in bed every morning and practically laughed Tadashi out the door.

Aside from not having to get up ridiculously early five times a week, Hiro was ecstatic about having left school for so many reasons. For one thing, being the youngest in all his classes by a clear four years didn’t exactly fill people with the overwhelming urge to talk to him. Not to mention that he was the smartest in his year group. And it definitely didn’t help that he liked to brag about it, and openly discuss theories with the teachers, and even act superior in front of his much older and stronger peers, which made things even worse for him. He’d been made fun of, pushed around, and pranked more times than he could care to remember, but it never got to him, not really.

Nevertheless, Hiro enjoyed the quiet and productive solitude of his room while children his age wasted their days trudging around a schoolyard. He had so much free time to play his games, to mess around with old parts he’d collected, to work on his own projects. He could do whatever he pleased. Everything was great.

That was, until Aunt Cass started acting weird.

Tadashi had forced Hiro on multiple occasions to offer his assistance running the bakery during the day. At first he had refused, flatly declaring that she could just build autonomous robots to make the coffee, supply freshly baked goods, and clean, which would save herself some money, time, and effort. And Hiro had thought that his suggestion was reasonable, but Tadashi had only shaken his head at him. “Unbelievable.” Hiro claimed, ego inflated, that he would even build all of those robots himself, now that he had some free time, and Tadashi could help with the programming. Tadashi just ruffled his hair and laughed. He had so many better things to be doing.

Aunt Cass herself never asked Hiro for any help. It seemed that she had found some trusted staff she could rely on enough to take over when other things needed attending to. What things, Hiro wondered, well…

It was around eleven o’clock when he heard her come upstairs. Eleven was a slow hour for the bakery; it was too early for lunch and it was too late for breakfast. Hiro was still in bed, not yet dressed, slurping on steaming strings of ramen noodles as he played on his console, one-handed. Difficult, but not impossible. He greeted her as usual, “Hey, Aunt Cass,” with no speculation whatsoever as to why she was there. She largely left her two charges alone, both being the independent and bright young men she’d raised them to be. But she came up occasionally when she needed something. But she hadn’t said what she needed yet.

She gingerly perched herself on the side of his futon bed, looking over him to watch whatever it was he was playing. Some infinite iteration of a familiar RPG that he was determined to grind through. He barely noticed her presence, but he kept up a running monologue as he played, which he tended to do regardless of whether anyone else was in the room with him or not. It mustn’t’ve made a lot of sense to her, but it was a whole ten minutes later and she was still sitting right beside him.

Eventually she spoke and it was so unexpected that Hiro jumped. “Hiro,” she said, and Hiro imagined his brother screaming at him where his _manners_ were, and he put down the console and looked up at her. She looked really lovely today. She was wearing some really nice shade of lipstick and her hair looked silky. She smiled at him and there was a crinkle at her eyes that was just so warming. “Sorry to interrupt your game there.”

“Oh, uh, sorry, Aunt Cass.” He laughed guiltily and pushed his console away, as if that would make up for the fact that he ignored her for ten minutes. He beamed at her and opened out his hands. “Uh, _soooo_ what’s up?”

There really mustn’t have been any huge barrage of customers downstairs because she really took her time answering him. She just seemed to stare at him, smiling. Hiro found his gaze flitting elsewhere as the silence dragged on between them. He wondered if she was OK. She was a little _slow_ this morning.

“Hiro,” she said – so suddenly that Hiro jumped _again._ “I just wanted to say that I’m _so… so… proud_ of you.”

Hiro could feel his cheeks heat up, even when he made a show of already full-well knowing just how brilliant and marvellous he was. “Thanks, Aunt Cass. Um… Wha-What are you proud of me for? Exactly?”

“Well. It’s not every day a boy prodigy graduates from high school four years before his age-group, and still manages to be at the top of his class.”

Hiro rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “Haha… I… guess not. I’m a prodigy for now, but I guess it’s all downhill from here.” He said it as a joke, laughing to accentuate it, but it was still sort of true. He looked to his console, fingers itching to get back there and grind, but there were still no signs that Aunt Cass was leaving.

She reached up and put a hand through his bed-hair, moving it along his scalp in slow to-and-fro motions. He continued to stare at her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He could tell she was looking at the little gap between his front teeth from where her eyes moved. “Did you have the best marks in all your classes?” she asked.

“Um, most of them, yep…”

“What about sex-ed?”

His eyes widened. It felt like his heart had just skipped a few beats. “Ssssorry…?” Did he mishear her? Even at this distance?

“Sex education, Hiro,” she said, the words rolling off her tongue so effortlessly like she was talking about something _completely_ different. She leaned in a little more. “Were you top of the class?”

“Ummmm.” His face and ears was burning. It was so embarrassing, and he remembered back to when some of his creepier peers posed similar questions to him at school. He was a boy prodigy whose grades trumped everyone else’s, and who excelled at all areas of mathematics and hard sciences, and yet he hadn’t even finished puberty yet. He couldn’t even hear someone say the word “sex” without getting all red and flustered. It made him feel a hell of a lot younger than he liked to think he was. He hated it.

He wanted to look Aunt Cass in the eye and answer her in the straightest, most chill and unaffected tone, but he could barely manage an answer on its own. “Th-There is no uh, sex-ed in the senior year… And, I was considered too young to be in those classes back when… yeah.” He wanted that to be the end of that, but he was afraid Aunt Cass wouldn’t drop the subject. Surely she could see how uncomfortable he was…?

She suddenly looked surprised and Hiro realised that it was the first shift in her benevolent expression since she’d been there. “You’ve never had sex-ed?”

For a second there, Hiro was _terrified_ that she was going to give him a few lessons right then and there. He’d never been more motivated to get out of bed in all his life. He threw the blankets off his legs and crawled past her, out from underneath her affectionate hand. “S-Sorry, Aunt Cass,” he cried, jumping off the bed and running to the small bathroom he shared with his brother. He paused in the doorway, hand already on the door and pulling it closed slowly. He made an effort to look apologetic. “I just remembered I said I’d meet a um, friend in town, and I still gotta shower and stuff, so… y’know…”

He stared at her, expecting her to take the hint so he didn’t have to outright ask her to leave. But she had barely moved. She had adjusted her posture so she was still facing him. She was still smiling. And Hiro couldn’t quite shake the unnerved feeling he got from her…

To hell with being polite, he decided. “Bye,” he blurted, closing the door. He stayed silent and still on the other side of that door for a few seconds before he heard her footsteps heading downstairs. It was only until then that he started up the shower and quietly yelled to his bewildered reflection in the mirror, “ _what the hell was that?!_ ”

Hiro had planned on sharing this very _weird_ experience with his brother once he came home from the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. He had the story all mapped out in his head – he’d gone over it enough times throughout the day as he took a stroll of the city. But, he couldn’t seem to find the perfect opportunity to tell it. His brother came home late, had a late dinner with Aunt Cass, would not stop _raving_ about all the cool robotics projects he got to see in action, and then he was out like a light by ten thirty. Unbelievable.

As Hiro settled down in his futon a few hours later that night, he supposed that it didn’t really matter. Clearly Aunt Cass had forgotten all about it, from the way she animatedly talked to him and his brother at dinner. Maybe he was supposed to forget all about it too.

Later he would wish that he had at least said something.


	2. Chapter 2

It was about a week later, when Hiro had all but forgotten about the strange visit from Aunt Cass in his bedroom, that something similar happened again.

Hiro hadn’t thought much of their chance meeting. He was in the kitchen late one morning, finding that he couldn’t really stand to eat ramen noodles for breakfast _every_ day. No, today, he was in the mood for a bit of variety, perhaps something a bit more substantial. He took one long look in the pantry and his heart set itself on a packet of microwave pre-buttered popcorn. Not only was it a prime choice for his planned morning of movie-watching, but it also took a whole _two_ _minutes_ less to prepare, compared to the ramen noodles.

Aunt Cass arrived shortly after he’d tossed the popcorn in the microwave. She looked a hell of a lot more dressed down than she usually was at that time of day. She didn’t even have any make-up on.

“Good morning, Hiro,” she said, yawning.

“Oh – hey, Aunt Cass.” He tapped a beat against the kitchen counter as he watched her quietly work her way around the kitchen. She wasn’t compulsively pouring herself a cup of coffee today; it looked like she was trying to prepare some sort of special herbal tea. She was moving quite meticulously too, as if she were drowsy, and Hiro felt compelled to comment on it. “Are you sick, Aunt Cass?”

She turned to him, her expression not as alert as it could’ve been. “What? Oh… No, not really. I’ve been worse. I am taking a sick day though.”

“Cool…” He couldn’t really think of anything else to say. “I, uh… hope you feel better.”

She smiled at him once before turning back to her hot tea. But then the microwave started popping, and she stopped what she was doing. She broke out in a breathy laughter. “ _Really,_ Hiro?” She shook her head. “Popcorn? The first meal of your day?”

“Ah, it’s just this one time, Aunt Cass, I promise.” He smiled sheepishly at her. She continued to shake her head at him and he felt like trying to justify his choice. “I’m watching a movie so… I thought it would be appropriate. All I need is a super-sized Pepsi and I’m good to go!”

She scoffed. She turned to face him, leaning against the bench like she wanted to have a bit of conversation. She sipped lightly from her steaming mug before murmuring, “I do worry about how you’re eating, Hiro, now that you’re not in school anymore. You should let me make you breakfast more often.”

“Oh, uh...” He shook away her offer awkwardly. “Thanks, Aunt Cass, but… aren’t you already busy enough as it is?”

“I will always make time for you, my darling.”

The microwave stopped. The smell of only slightly singed popcorn filled the air, aggravating Hiro’s empty stomach, and yet he didn’t fetch it just yet. Aunt Cass was staring at him again, like she had that day. Except instead of smiling, Hiro could’ve sworn she was… simpering. It wasn’t a warm feeling she gave off, it was… something else.

The microwave beeped again, startling Hiro, giving him the push he needed to break away from Aunt Cass’ gaze and retrieve the popcorn. He didn’t want to hang around anymore than he needed to; he just grabbed a bowl and dumped the hot bag inside it. He flashed a tiny, nervous smile at Aunt Cass as he turned to leave, and he had just made it through the doorway when he heard her call his name.

“Yeah?” he asked, voice hitching up a little. He coughed and tried that again, trying to sound a lot manlier than a barely-pubescent boy. “Um, yeah?”

Aunt Cass approached him slowly, still nursing her tea. “Would it be OK if I watched the movie with you?” She made her eyes sad and her lips pouty. “I would really love to see a movie together. I feel like we haven’t done that in so long…”

Hiro gulped. He hadn’t planned on sharing his space today, but he couldn’t think of a good reason why she couldn’t join him. Especially when there was so much pleading in her eyes. “Um… OK,” he croaked out, and she perked up immediately. He found himself trying to discourage her. “I don’t know if you’d like the film very much though… It’s got violence, and katanas, and horrifying family secrets, and…” He shrugged. “I’m just sayin’, it… may not be your kind of thing.”

She was close enough now that she laid a hand on his shoulder, smiling. “I don’t mind all that, Hiro. I really enjoy family drama. And if the violence is as bad as you say it is, maybe you need some parental guidance.”

She laughed and Hiro shallowly echoed her as he led the way up to his bedroom. He was still reeling from her sudden inclination to watch a film with him. He couldn’t remember a time where she was ever interested in sitting down and watching a film with him, _just_ him. Nevertheless, he cleared some space on his desk (via moving an arm across the surface and bunching all his things into piles), tilted the screen a little in her direction, and scooted over to give her some space. She rolled over Tadashi’s desk chair and joined Hiro just as he started the film.

Hiro was disappointed. He had been so pumped to see this film but now, before the opening credits had even finished, he just wanted it to be over. He wanted Aunt Cass to leave so he could be alone to put up his feet and laugh obnoxiously and ram handfuls of popcorn at his mouth. Instead, he sat quietly and woodenly, eating his popcorn one piece at a time. He’d never felt so restrained.

At least the movie was brilliant.

He peeked at Aunt Cass from time to time, and it looked as though she wasn’t following the movie very well. But she hadn’t asked Hiro to explain it to her, so he didn’t. He had high hopes that she would get bored and confused enough to leave around halfway through, but her sudden movement was for an entirely different cause. He didn’t know what she was doing back there, behind him, but then he felt her hand on his back.

He had switched to sitting on his chair backwards, with the seat under his chin so he had something to rest on. His back was completely exposed and she was definitely taking advantage of that. He didn’t know what could’ve possibly possessed her to do it, but she began to rub his back with just one hand at first, and then both of them. She ran her palms up and down his back in slow, methodical movements. Within five minutes it had turned into a full-on back massage.

Hiro didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what was going on. All he could think to do was just to keep watching the film and pretend that it wasn’t happening. He had it in his head that it was strange to react only now, after it had been going on for some time. Even as Aunt Cass moved her hands so that they were underneath Hiro’s shirt, he still didn’t know if it was too late to react.

He wanted the film to end. The intensity of the action and music denoted that they were in the middle of an all-important climax, but he wished he could just skip past all that and get to the credits. His back felt so good right now, but he hated the numb, tingly effect it was having on his body. It was making him feel so weird. But then he found himself feeling weird for thinking that he felt weird. He was so confused.

Hiro spent every last minute of that film wishing it was over, and when it finally was… He didn’t know what to do next. Eventually Aunt Cass withdrew her hands and returned Tadashi’s chair to its rightful place. Hiro remained where he was, stock-still and tense as ever. Then he felt her arms come around and embrace him. “Thanks for letting me watch the movie with you. I enjoyed it. Was it as good as you were expecting?”

She was waiting for an answer, Hiro realised. Against all odds, he got one out. “Y-Yeah. It was great.”

“Maybe we could watch another movie sometime. Just you and me.”

Again, she was waiting. Hiro felt like there was a nest of wasps swarming inside him. “Sure,” he replied. Was there any other answer he could give?

He felt her press a kiss to his cheek and then she was gone. As Hiro continued to sit there, staring at the credits as they rolled, he noticed that she’d left her cup behind. She hadn’t even finished it. It was cold and still half-full.

He reached around and gingerly touched the skin on his back. It felt hot. Hot and weird.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um so yeah - AU where SFIT doesn't want kids under the age of 16?? (sorry Hiro)

As the end of the semester drew near, Tadashi was spending more and more time at the Institute than anywhere else, including home. He’d leave earlier and he’d come home later. He even started taking his own meals to the Institute, missing out on sit-down dinners, and his abnormally-large bag crackled like he was carrying a dozen snacks on him at all times. Hiro was lucky if he got to talk two minutes with him in between the time it took his older brother to come through the door and get into bed.

He didn’t like that Tadashi was so absent all the time. He understood that Tadashi had his massive final project to finish up, and it wasn’t necessarily that he was behind in his work at all. No, Tadashi had all the major functionalities covered, but he was looking for so much more than just a passing grade. There were all these extra things that Tadashi wanted to add, and that was where the bulk of his time was dedicated to.

After the weirdness that had happened with Aunt Cass, Hiro decided he wanted to get out of the house more. He got up a few hours earlier than usual (though it still wasn’t early enough to catch his brother) and headed into the kitchen to pick up something he could stuff in his mouth and walk out with. It must’ve been a while since he’d actually been outside; it took his eyes a while to adjust to how _bright_ everything was. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind, so he wandered on over to the Institute. He had thought maybe it would’ve been OK if he dropped in to say hi to Tadashi and compliment what would’ve no doubt been fantastic work.

But his brother’s frustration had made him less than welcoming.

After being shooed off, he wandered around the labs, looking over his friends’ astounding work. He tried to ask them about what they were doing, but they all seemed to have deadlines on their mind. Like Tadashi, it wasn’t that they hadn’t managed their time well; they were just ambitious.

Actually, the more time Hiro spent looking around in the Institute, the more it all looked so… fun.

Hiro had waited until Tadashi stepped outside for a break before approaching him again. “Hey, Tadashi,” he said, yanking on his brother’s shirt to get his attention. Tadashi hummed to show he was listening but he still sat down and stared vacantly into the distance, opening up a packet of crisps. “Tadashi, what do you think about me enrolling here?”

“Can’t,” he answered.

Hiro felt his heart sink in his chest. “What?”

“You can’t enrol here.” Tadashi shook his head. “They won’t take you.”

It was a dream that Hiro had only possessed for an hour or so, but it was a dream shattered nonetheless. “Why?” he demanded. “Because I’m young?”

“Yeah, Hiro.” Tadashi made it sound like it was so obvious. “Because you’re still just a kid.”

“Hey!” He stared at Tadashi incredulously. He was offered some crisps but Hiro pushed the bag away angrily. “I’ve already graduated high school! I’m a prodigy! I’ve already done in my spare time what most of you robotics majors need months of _class-time_ for!”

“Hey.” Tadashi put an arm around his younger brother that Hiro was too weak to fight off. “Hey, calm down. Look, Hiro, _I_ know you’re a genius, and some of these professors might be willing to let you show them what you can do. But it’s SFIT rules. No one under 16 years old is allowed in. You’ve got another year or two before they’ll accept you.”

Hiro was devastated. It was so stupid, and Hiro would never admit it, but he was actually on the brink of tears. His brother must’ve picked up on it though because the next thing he knew he was wrapped up in a big hug.

“I’m sorry, Hiro,” his brother murmured. He pulled him back to smile optimistically at him. “It’s just a different environment, you know? You work better in your own time anyway. Just stick to doing your own projects at home for a while, OK? We can get you all the parts you need.” He leaned forward then with a haunting look in his eyes. His voice dropped to a murmur. “Just be grateful that you don’t have to do any _group projects_.”

Hiro shrugged. “Those sound really fun?”

Tadashi shook his head solemnly. “Group projects are the _worst_.”

After about ten minutes or so of group project horror stories, Tadashi brushed himself off and said it was time to get back to work. He ruffled his brother’s hair, said that he’d see him at home, and disappeared into the ever-bustling lab. Hiro, feeling like there was nothing left for him at the Institute, or anywhere else in the city, started the slow journey back home.

As he passed through the kitchen, he noticed Aunt Cass was on her lunch break. She was just sitting at the table with a hot coffee in one hand and an iced bun in the other, reading the newspaper. He had hoped to just slip by her and get some food later when she was back at work, but…

“And where’ve you been this fine morning, Hiro,” she asked, looking up and smiling.

“Oh, uh…” He turned to her, but he couldn’t look at her. He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly as he stared at the floor. “Just, uh, went to see Tadashi at SFIT,” he mumbled.

She hummed, nodding. “Your brother works very hard, doesn’t he.”

“Yeah…”

“It seems like he stays out there later and later each day.”

“Yeah, he does…”

“It must get lonely up there without him.”

Hiro finally looked up at her. She was clearly waiting for some kind of response as she took a long sip of her coffee. He tried to stammer something out. “Uh-uhm, it – not really? I’m OK, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” She leaned forward and angled her arms in such a way that her breasts pushed together, and Hiro noticed that the shirt she was wearing was a _hell_ of a lot more low-cut than what she usually wore. He forced himself to focus on her face but that was even worse – he thought that she was actually _smirking_ at him. “Because you know that you can call on me anytime and I’ll be there to keep you company. Whether it be day… or night.”

“Uh-m…” His cheeks were blazing. He kicked at the floor and stared hard like there was actually something there of interest. He shook his head. What was happening. “Th-Thanks, Aunt Cass…”

She laughed quietly. “Hiro, _please,_ you don’t have to call me that. Just Cass is fine.”

“…Well, um.” He pointed to the stairs to his bedroom when words failed him. He edged over towards them, feeling like he was still pinned under her unblinking, lidded gaze. “I have, um, some stuff to do, so…”

“Wait, Hiro.” She got up from her chair and opened up the refrigerator, where she procured a plate that made Hiro’s mouth water and his anxieties fade. It was a generous slice of angel cake, topped with fresh whipped cream and strawberries, with a fork resting beside it. It was all ready to devour, which was _exactly_ what Hiro was going to do once he got upstairs. “I thought you might like something _other_ than noodles or popcorn, so I saved you a piece of cake.”

Hiro took the cake from her, smiling like a little boy again. “Thanks, Aunt Cass! Uh, I mean…” That smile didn’t last very long. He looked up at her and she was giving him a very encouraging grin. “…Cass?”

She leaned down. Hiro had thought that she was going to drop a kiss onto his cheek, like she sometimes did, but –whether it was accidental or not – she caught his lips instead. And Hiro had been so off his guard that he couldn’t even react until it was over and she was back at the table, reading her newspaper like nothing had happened.

He went upstairs and shut his bedroom door without a word. He set down the slice of cake before even touching it. He was too distracted by the kiss. As far as he knew, that had been the first time _anyone_ had kissed his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all those lovely people who left comments - thank you very much! It's greatly appreciated <3

Hiro hadn’t felt like working on many of his projects lately. He occasionally picked up a few robots he’d put together and tinkered around with them, but he lost interest or motivation a few hours later. And he hadn’t had much inspiration to start new projects from scratch, either. He could remember a time when he was so engrossed in his projects that he would work _well_ into the small hours of the morning without even realising, until Tadashi yelled at him to go to sleep. He missed being so productive. He missed his brother being around.

It was about twelve midday by the time Hiro woke up. He didn’t feel like doing anything. He barely had the energy to drag his laptop onto his bed to watch a film, but somehow he managed it. He found an old bottle of soda under his bed that was flat enough to make him wonder exactly how long it had been there, but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. He still drank it as he dug up some old anime film to stare at for a while.

It was about twelve thirty when he heard someone knocking on his door. “Yeah?” he called out and Aunt Cass walked in. She was carrying what looked – and smelled – like a big plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

She’d been doing this a lot lately. She usually greeted him now with delicious treats she baked special – though he had to wonder how ‘special’ it was if she was doing it every other day. Sometimes when he wandered over to the fridge, he found a note with his name and a heart next to all sorts of baked goods that he _loved_ : lemon tarts, ginger slices, rocky road, apricot pastries, chocolate brownies… With the amount of sweets he was eating, he was actually starting to get a bit, well… tubby.

“Still in bed, Hiro?” she asked, shutting the door behind her and making her way into his bedroom. He shrugged, watching her rest the plate of cookies on the lower-half of his bed. She sat down next to them, folding one leg smoothly over the other. She looked at him with soft concern in her expression. “Are you feeling OK?”

“M’fine,” Hiro mumbled. He jabbed a finger at his laptop and paused the anime film he’d been watching. He sat himself up a little and rubbed at his eyes. “Just… tired, that’s all.”

She nodded understandingly. “…You know, Tadashi told me what you said a while ago. About wanting to enrol at SFIT.”

Hiro just wished now that he’d never even mentioned it. He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” He tried to sound as if he didn’t care, but his bitterness still came through. “It’s not as if they’d want a stupid kid like me there anyway.”

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass exclaimed quietly. She looked genuinely shocked. “Hiro, you’re not a stupid kid – whoever said you were?”

“Well, _no_ one, but…” He heaved a sigh and the words just poured out, even though he hadn’t meant them to. “People still treat me like I’m just a little kid. I graduated from high school _four years_ before everyone else my age, but that doesn’t seem to convince people that I’m any more capable than them. If no one was going to respect me then… why did I even bother pushing myself in school? I don’t know, I’m just… so sick of it.”

He felt awful repeating his thoughts out loud. He shouldn’t have said anything. He braced himself for the inevitable response whenever he brought this up: but you _are_ still a kid, you still have a lot to learn, and so on and so forth. He didn’t much care to hear it. But Aunt Cass surprised him with something completely unexpected.

“I don’t see you as a little kid.” He looked up at her and she was smiling tenderly. “You’re my smart, mature, competent, _amazing_ young man. You’re my Hiro. And if they don’t want you at their Institute then that is _their_ loss. You’re already better than everyone there.”

He actually broke a smile at her at that. She actually managed to make him feel a lot less worthless than he had felt just this morning. “Thanks, Aunt Cass. That… means a lot to me.”

For a minute there he had almost been distracted from the secondary reason why he had so badly wanted to enrol at SFIT: he wanted someplace else to be other than _home._ Alone, and yet with Aunt Cass always there.

“What are you watching?” she asked, leaning around to have a glimpse of the screen.

“Oh, uh – it’s nothing.” He closed the lid before she could get a good look. “Just a film.”

“Not porn, then?”

Hiro’s mouth fell open. He felt like he’d just been smacked in the face with a hot frying pan – and he looked like it too. “N-No!” he yelled, confused and suddenly defensive. “W-Why would you think that? Look.” He opened up the lid of his laptop again. Aunt Cass was laughing as he started up the film and turned the screen to her. “I don’t watch that kind of thing!”

“Oh,” she laughed, “so it _was_ a good wholesome movie after all. I was just teasing, Hiro.” She brushed her fingers along his hot cheek and it was enough to freeze him in place. “I don’t mind if you watch porn. It’s perfectly normal for a young man... _Not_ a stupid little kid…”

She started running her fingers through his black mess of hair. It probably didn’t feel very clean, but it didn’t dissuade her at all. She still touched him like he was the softest fabric in a materials store.

He started to wonder why he had even tried to convince her he didn’t watch porn in the first place…

“Hey, Hiro,” she whispered close to his face, startling him out of his thoughts. She was smiling almost mischievously. “There’s an old film I’ve been meaning to watch for a while. Would you like to watch it with me?”

He was staring right into her eyes. They were such a lavish spring green, and round – so different to his own. He could almost count every one of her long lashes. “But… bakery… run?”

He couldn’t form the coherent sentence that he’d wanted to, but Aunt Cass still managed to catch his meaning. She shook her head gently. “They don’t need me downstairs right now. My bakery is in good hands…” She smiled like she’d just thought of a good joke, like there was something she wanted to say, but she didn’t share it. “So how about you get started on those cookies and I’ll just fetch that film for us. OK?”

“…OK.”

She kissed him then, right on the lips. There was definitely no mistaking it for accidental this time; it was very much deliberate. It was slow and soft and warm and made his stomach swell with butterflies – just like what he always imagined a real kiss felt like.

It was only until after she’d left that the content haze subsided and Hiro began to hear himself screaming in his head. What was he still doing here? Why hadn’t he run far, far away yet?

He turned his head towards the cookies Aunt Cass had baked. That’s right, _baked_. Just for him. With valuable ingredients that she used every day to make a living. He picked one up and took a bite. It was still warm. It was crunchy on the outside but soft and partially melted on the inside. It tasted _delicious._ She went to _all_ this effort, and it would be rude to refuse her now… Right?

He put down the cookie. He wasn’t so sure. He didn’t feel sure of anything anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING = this chapter contains descriptions of and allusions to CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE. I have attempted to capture the confusion and fear and lack of control that goes with being abused by a trusted caregiver, which is a very horrific and traumatic thing. 
> 
> Here is what happens for those of you who would rather not read it: Aunt Cass shows Hiro some graphic sexual imagery and proceeds to engage them both in mutual masturbation. That is the first half of this chapter - the second half (past the random ------- lines) is a heated interaction between Hiro and Tadashi.
> 
> YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Please, be safe my lovelies <3

Hiro stared at his bedroom door. It was wide open. Aunt Cass wasn’t back yet.

He wondered if it wasn’t too late to just up and _leave._ He could’ve gone anywhere else that wasn’t alone in a room, with her. He could’ve gone downstairs and had a proper sit-down breakfast, amongst the smiling faces of hungry late morning customers. He could’ve gone out to watch a _real_ movie, in the cinema, like an old person did. He could’ve visited his brother at SFIT for lunch. He could’ve retreated into the basement and locked the door. He could’ve done _literally anything_ but just sit there on his bed, haplessly, waiting to just let everything that was about to happen to him happen.

He trembled as he finally found the strength just to stand. It was hard to walk. It was hard to do anything, but still he forced himself to approach the door. Maybe if he just closed it, maybe things would be different. Maybe that would say all that he needed to. He put out a hand and held the edge of the door, drawing it back slowly for a good swing…

But it was already too late. Aunt Cass was already back at the door, smiling innocuously, holding up what looked like an old DVD with a red and white cover. She was caught off guard, seeing him so close to the door, and she asked him concernedly, “what are you doing up? You didn’t have to get up.”

Hiro felt himself deflate with resignation. He didn’t know what he was doing up. “Just…” He turned to his desk and picked up something from his prized piles of junk. “Getting a thing…”

She nodded, her gaze never leaving his as she closed the door behind her. She looked so glowingly happy. “Just you and me,” she said and Hiro flashed a small smile without thinking too carefully about those words. She tapped the DVD she was holding. “ _This_ ,” she said, passing it over to Hiro, who held it and stared at it but didn’t comprehend it, “this was one of my _favourite_ films back when I was… well, younger.” She laughed. “Should we watch it on your laptop? Then you could just stay in bed.”

Hiro turned to look at his bed. The sheets were askew, he couldn’t remember the last time anything had been washed, and it was a _small_ bed – even for a single. “Sure,” he said, not sounding sure.

“Great.” Aunt Cass moved them both back to the bed, holding up the covers for Hiro to crawl under. He had to bunch right up to the edge just to let her slide in beside him.

She talked a little about the film but Hiro wasn’t listening. Everything about this situation felt strange. It was as if time was slowing down and passing too quickly at the same time, and he was just time’s hopeless, passive passenger. She seemed to be doing everything for him; she popped out a game disc he’d had in his laptop for a few weeks now and put the mysterious DVD in. She must’ve opened up the right video player and everything because the next thing he knew her arm was wrapped around his waist and he was watching opening credits fade in and out on the screen.

He tried to watch it. Honestly, he did. If the last movie was anything to go by, then he knew he’d be there for a long time. He tried to understand the characters, to appreciate the foreign environments and the long scenic shots. It played like any other artsy and dramatic film he’d ever seen. Different faces, same problems.

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass murmured, and when Hiro turned his head towards her, she was right there. She held up the plate she’d brought in. “The cookies will be getting cold.”

The corners of his mouth turned up in what must’ve been a smile. He picked a cookie, raised it slowly to his mouth, and took a tiny hesitant bite out of it. Before he’d even chewed and swallowed it she had asked him if it was good. “Yeah,” he said. “These are great.”

It was something to do. He ate cookies as he watched this weird film with its attractive cast and their too-much-information dialogue. It was clearly a film for adults, so he knew he shouldn’t have been so surprised when a sex scene occurred. But this one was different to all the others he’d seen. For one thing, it didn’t tastefully fade to black and then to the next morning, no.

This one played out every carnal, gratuitous little detail.

And it went on for about as long as a real unsimulated sex scene did, too. And it definitely wasn’t simulated.

Hiro had never felt so awkward in his entire life. It was the _sounds_ they made – the moans and whimpers, and the breathlessness. He’d stopped looking at the screen a long time ago, with its close-ups and slow pans, but he couldn’t stop listening to it.

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass whispered, and she sounded a little breathless herself. “You know what’s happening, don’t you?”

It was only his stubborn refusal to let anyone think that he was a little kid who didn’t know anything that made him answer. “Of course.”

“Do you like it?”

Hiro peeked at the screen. The man had his face buried in what looked like the women’s groin, her legs spread, and his tongue working in a way that made that lady whine. He didn’t know what was going on, only that it must’ve felt so good. He didn’t want to, he _really_ didn’t want to, but he found himself getting more and more aroused the longer the footage dragged on.

Aunt Cass started to thumb at his neck and it only made everything feel a lot worse. “Hiro,” she breathed, in his ear, and he felt a strange tingle go down his spine, spiking him right down his centre and nailing him to the bed. He couldn’t move. It felt like sorcery, what she was doing to him. “Have you ever touched a woman before?”

Hiro didn’t remembered giving her any kind of interested response, but next thing he knew his hand was in her underwear, her pants dropped to the floor. The sex scene had finished, but Aunt Cass wasn’t.

Hiro tried to keep watching the film. He tried, but nothing was getting through beyond what was happening to him right now. It was all just moving splodges of colour and gibberish. But what else could he do? He just sat there, letting her move his hand – his dead, lifeless hand – in the warm and slippery-wet place in between her legs. Just staring at the screen, trying not to cry. Only little kids cried.

And when she’d finished, she told him that it was his turn.

\------

Hiro had been lying on his bed, just gazing at the ceiling when Tadashi finally came through their bedroom door later that day. He was noisy. He made loud exclamations of exhaustion as he tossed aside his bag, yanking off one Converse after another. Even when he’d spent practically every waking minute working on his final project, he still seemed so energetic and so full of life.

Hiro had barely left his bed all day and he felt like he’d been hit by a bus.

“Hey, Hiro,” Tadashi cried when he wasn’t immediately acknowledged – not as a greeting but as a prelude to ‘I’ve got something good to tell you’. Well, Hiro sincerely doubted that he had any good news for him. Lately he’d started to doubt whether there was any good left in the world. “Guess who got an A on their ridiculously long and overrated report!”

“Mary, Queen of Scots.”

Tadashi gave a baffled laugh. “What? _No_ , you knucklehead – _I_ did! I got an A! And this is the same stupid report I had been working on _two hours_ before it was due –”

Hiro closed his eyes and tried hard to tune him out. But it was hard to focus. All Hiro could hear was his brother taunting him about being an excellent student in the city’s most excellent place to be, and he was again reminded of how much of a little kid he still was. He thudded his fists on his bed, pulled himself up and shouted across the room, “just _shut up_ already!”

Tadashi did shut up. He stared at Hiro like he had no idea what had gotten into him. “What…?”

“Just _stop talking about it_ ,” Hiro cried, turning his back to his brother. He’d spent all goddamn day wanting him back home, and now that he was, Hiro just wanted him to get the hell out.

“Hiro, what’s wrong with you?” Hiro felt Tadashi’s weight on the edge of his bed. “You’ve been so moody lately… Is it just puberty or-?”

Hiro turned and smacked Tadashi faster than his brother had time to anticipate it. He staggered back more out of shock than any actual pain. When Tadashi recovered and looked at his younger brother again, there was no sympathy left in his eyes. “What the _hell_ was that for?”

“Just go back to your stuck-up, elite institute of technology already! It’s where you’d rather be! Go – and you and all your friends can sit around congratulating each other on just how _amazing_ you all are.”

Tadashi paused for a second before blowing up at him, and that condescending look of _understanding_ crossed his features. Hiro felt like strangling him. “Look, I already talked to the top professors at the institute. I tried to get you in – I really did, Hiro. But they just _won’t._ But they said maybe next year we can-“

“Next year,” Hiro mumbled angrily. “I want to get out _now._ ”

“Get out?” Tadashi looked so lost. “What do you mean?” Hiro tried to ignore him and open up a game on his hand-held console to aggressively battle some pixels, but it didn’t stop Tadashi from trying to figure out what he was so upset over. “…Yeah, you know, maybe you _should_ get out more, Hiro. I mean – just look at you. You’re starting to get a bit, well… tubby.”

Hiro flashed the darkest look he could muster at his older brother. He wanted to effectively say _die in a hole_ without actually having to say it.

“Maybe you’re feeling really pent-up, sitting in this house by yourself all day? Maybe it’s time you got out there and found yourself a girlfriend.”

Hiro threw aside his console, grabbed his pillow and started pounding Tadashi with it. He didn’t let up; he only stopped when Tadashi caught and held his hands. His older brother looked so confused and worried and frustrated. “Just _tell me_ what’s wrong with you!”

“I want to _leave_ ,” Hiro cried, and he could feel himself nearing the brink of tears. He tried to swallow them back. “I want to actually _see_ you every day – I want to get a place that isn’t above a _fucking bakery!_ ”

“Don’t swear,” Tadashi warned. “But, Hiro… we _can’t_ leave. I mean, what the hell would we even do? You’re too young to get a job, so _I’d_ have to drop out of SFIT to pay our living costs. Why would you ever _want_ to leave? This place is _amazing!_ It’s right in the centre of town, there’s always food, we don’t pay rent, and we live with this… this _saint_ of a woman, who works _so_ hard to make ends meet, to support you and me and our _expensive_ hobbies.”

Now Hiro definitely wanted to cry. But Tadashi was right there, hand on his shoulder, telling him again and again how great everything was for them right now. “You probably don’t remember, because you were still so young, but Aunt Cass was the only one who volunteered to take us in. No one else really wanted to. And she didn’t have to either – she _really_ didn’t have to. We are… _forever_ in her debt. She really turned our lives around after mum and dad died. And I checked with her that she actually _loves_ having us around. So, Hiro, we’re not going anywhere.”

 _We’re not going anywhere._ That seemed to say it all.

“You know, you ought to be kinder to her. I don’t think you realise, or fully appreciate all the great things that she’s done for us. Maybe you should offer to help out around the bakery more. Maybe she’ll even give you a bit of money for it, too – because she’s just that _nice._ ”

Hiro didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He picked up his hand-held and asked, “want to play a few rounds?”

Tadashi seemed confused by the sudden subject change, but then he sighed and rubbed his eyes and made other tired gestures. “Sorry, bud, but I’ve got a _really_ early start tomorrow. I’ve gotta get all the rest that I can.”

“You never play games with me anymore,” Hiro accused softly.

“Hey. I know I’ve been _so_ busy with this final project, but it’s only for another week or so, I swear. Then we’ll have all the time in the world to play games and go places and do, whatever it is you want to do. So just hang on for another week. Think you can do that?”

He smiled pleadingly and raised his hand for a fist bump. Hiro returned it and went through the motions half-heartedly. He didn’t really seem to have a choice.

“Thanks, knucklehead,” Tadashi said, giving him a quick noogie before disappearing into the bathroom for a shower.

Hiro had already had about four of those that day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YET ANOTHER WARNING = Heavily implied MALE RAPE. At the end of this chapter, Aunt Cass manipulates Hiro into going to bed with her and she has sex with him. I have tried to keep the graphic details to a minimum. 
> 
> Again - please be safe, my lovelies. And don't worry - the darkest hour is just before the dawn. (Hopefully).
> 
> Thank you to the lovely commenters as always - I really can't say how happy it makes me to hear your amazing feedback! <3
> 
> (It's a very long chapter this time I'm sorry)

_So just hang on for another week. Think you can do that? Thanks, knucklehead._

A week was a long time, but somehow Hiro was cutting through it with more ease than he thought was possible. The key, he figured out, was distraction. He didn’t work on any of his projects, he didn’t so much as touch some of his more advanced technologies in the basement, but he did keep himself busy by volunteering to work the cash register at the bakery. His selling points were that he was good at making quick and accurate calculations – not that very many people paid with cash anymore – and also that he would work for free. He would work all day if he had to. He would run people their coffees and biscuits, he would mop up spills and crumbs, he would even paint inspirational punny quotes on the windows if it would keep him out of his own mind.

He only wished that Aunt Cass hadn’t been so enthusiastic. He hadn’t wanted her to get the wrong idea. The other reason he was so eager to offer his services was that, well… Aunt Cass couldn’t catch him alone in his room if he spent all his time in a bustling bakery full of people. He felt comforted by each smiling face that entered the bakery. But as the steady flow of customers trickled down to the last one – to the man who left a generous tip and bid everyone a good evening – Hiro no longer felt comforted. He felt afraid.

He never offered to help once the bakery was closed and all the other staff were gone. Aunt Cass asked him each and every day if he wanted to help her bake a new batch of goods for tomorrow, but each time he refused her in as little words as possible. He immediately stormed upstairs – on his two _aching_ feet – closed the door, and turned off all the lights.

Sometimes he heard her. Outside, ascending the stairs and descending them again. Sometimes Tadashi would walk into the bedroom late at night, holding a plate of cake he said he found just outside the door, with a love heart iced onto the top. He always thought that Aunt Cass had left the cake there for him, for working so hard at the institute.

And Hiro always let him believe that.

\-------

It was the due date of Tadashi’s final robotics project. Months and months of hard work and perseverance was all coming down to a ten minute presentation before one of the most renowned and accomplished professors at the Institute – Robert Callaghan. If Tadashi could’ve been described in just one word, when Hiro wished him good luck early that morning, it would’ve been _stressed._ His entrance into next year’s courses were riding on this project, and Tadashi had only thought to mention a couple of days ago that a scholarship could’ve been riding on it, too.

“You’ll do great,” Hiro had said, having been woken up by Tadashi’s nervous blundering and muttering at _six_ in the morning. He smiled at his dorky nerd older brother. “You always do great. I bet mum and dad would be proud. _I’m_ really proud of you.”

As Tadashi swung on his bag and adjusted his cap, prepared to go, he turned a look of petrified horror onto his younger brother. “Yeah,” he said. He looked so pale. “This is really it…”

“I thought your presentation was at five. You’ve still got eleven hours.”

Tadashi drew in a deep breath like this was news to him. “Only _eleven hours?!_ ” He staggered towards the door, clutching his chest. Hiro couldn’t tell if he was really this nervous or if he was just being dramatic, but either way it made him laugh. “I have about fifteen good luck charms – do you think it’ll be enough?”

“Hmmm.” Hiro looked like he was thinking about it. “It _might_ just be enough.”

“Oh God,” Tadashi yelled suddenly, “ _What if everything breaks at the last minute?_ ”

“Then don’t mess around with what’s already working, stupid.” Hiro rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. “Knock ‘em dead, bro.”

Either it all was an act after all or Tadashi recovered from worst-case scenarios _very_ quickly. He looked like his usual confident self as he headed out the door, giving Hiro a wink. “Will do, bro.” And then he was gone.

Hiro laid back down in his bed, breathing quietly. Everything felt so normal again when his brother was around, though he wasn’t around for very long. But that was soon to change.

\-------

It was around five thirty when Hiro got a call from his brother. It was brief, and there was a lot of ruckus in the background, but it was still nice to hear his brother shout excitedly, “He loved it! Callaghan _loved it!_ ”

And that was the good news. The bad news was that Tadashi wasn’t coming home that night. His friends had coaxed him into going over to Honey Lemon’s place to try out some drinks she had put together, and they were all going to celebrate their respective triumphs by riding out their euphoric and restless high until morning.

“So I’ll be home first thing tomorrow, OK?”

“Tomorrow, yeah…” Hiro had greatly looked forward to having the first sit-down dinner with his brother in a while. But he tried to be happy for him. He’d been working so hard and for so long; he deserved to let loose and have a good time with his friends. He forced some light-heartedness into his voice. “Don’t party too hard, nerd.”

Tadashi laughed and there were more loud noises on his end. “Oh – we’re leaving now – look, could you tell Aunt Cass for me?”

Hiro should’ve just given a quick ‘yep’ to let him get away, but he ended up saying “what?” instead.

“Just tell her that it went well, everything’s fine, uh, and I’m just at Honey Lemon’s flat for the night. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

It took Hiro a few seconds to end the call after Tadashi had hung up. He was happy for his brother and his hard work, really he was. But he would’ve been lying if he denied entertaining the possibility that Honey Lemon made a chemical concoction not meant for human consumption. If only for a second.

It took him another half an hour before he went downstairs. The smell of a good golden roast was in the air, making his mouth water – a dish that had probably been cooking for hours. Hiro almost felt sorry that Aunt Cass had put in all the effort. The table had been set with special placemats and candles and everything.

He peeked into the kitchen and she was there, leaning on the countertop with her back to him, taking slow drags from a glass of red wine. She looked dressed up. There were decorative clips in her pulled-back hair and she was wearing a nice red dress that fell to just above her knees, no shoes. She was listening to the faint music from a hidden radio and staring out into space. She looked like she was waiting for Tadashi to come home and find her surprise celebratory meal…

“Um,” he said, and she quickly turned to him. He kept his eyes on his feet as he spoke because he didn’t like to look at her right now. She looked so _nice._ “Sorry, Aunt Cass, but… Tadashi said he’s staying out tonight…”

“…Oh?” She took another long glug from her wine glass and immediately topped it back up. “Out with his friends, you mean?”

“Yeah… at… uh.” It dawned on him suddenly that he didn’t know what Honey Lemon’s real name was. Bah, it didn’t matter. “He’s just at a friend’s house and I think he’s crashing there, so…” He glanced up at her, expecting that she’d be upset. But she didn’t look bothered in the slightest. Still, he said, “he would’ve come… I would’ve told him to come if I’d known…” He gestured the extravagant meal wordlessly.

“What? Oh, the dinner?” She chuckled lightly. “It’s OK, Hiro. It’s nothing we can’t put some foil over and heat up for tomorrow night, right?”

He shrugged. He wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible so he could leave. He’d said everything he’d needed to say, and he didn’t want to give answers that were anything but non-committal.

He turned to go back upstairs, but it wasn’t as easy as that. It was _never_ as easy as that.

“Hiro,” she cried hurtfully, and he had no choice but to return. She was pouting. Pouting and drinking. “I got all dressed up and made a lovely dinner, and now I don’t have a nice young man to appreciate my efforts… Won’t you join me?”

He swallowed hard. “I-I’m not hungry…”

She titled her head and pouted some more. The make-up around her eyes made them look bigger and doll-like. Her lips were a dark red, like her dress. “Please, Hiro,” she begged in a small, meek voice. “Please won’t you join me – please, please?”

Saying _no_ was so much easier in his head than out loud. In the end, he just couldn’t do it. He took a seat at the table, just like she’d wanted, and he let her treat him to a steaming plate of roast chicken and vegetables and a rich gravy. He didn’t want to tell her, but it was one of the most delectable dishes he’d ever had from her. He dug right in.

“So glad you found your appetite again,” she commented, smiling as she sat down to her own plate of dinner.

They ate in silence for a while, but it didn’t last long. “So,” Aunt Cass began, and Hiro really wished that she wouldn’t. “Tadashi did well then?”

Hiro nodded as he chewed.

“That’s _so_ good to hear. Your brother is so smart, isn’t he? And hard-working. I’ll bet he’s going to go far in life.”

Hiro didn’t respond. If he stopped to talk, he couldn’t eat quickly, and if he couldn’t eat quickly, he couldn’t leave sooner.

Aunt Cass just stared at him for a while. “…You know, his tuition fees are quite expensive… Isn’t he lucky to have a place with his family in town? To not be renting and bogged down with part-time jobs? Isn’t it great that he just… has his own space and time to _thrive?_ Who knows how well he’d be doing if he didn’t have those luxuries?”

Hiro didn’t know why she was saying all this. It was making him feel guilty for ever thinking that he could try to convince his brother to leave with him. He started to feel sick. He slowly put down his knife and fork and said in a small voice, “thanks for dinner, Aunt Cass…”

“Don’t you want dessert?”

“Not really.”

“It’s black forest cake,” she tried to tempt him. “With glacé cherries and chocolate sprinkles?”

“No, thank you.”

She stood up suddenly and fetched the wine bottle from the counter. She emptied the dregs into her glass, had a gulp, and then held it out for him. “Would you like to try some merlot?”

Why she was doing this. “I-I can’t, I’m… underage.”

She lowered the glass onto the table, staring at him with a condescending half-smile on her face. “But you’re my brilliantly smart and mature young man. _Kids_ aren’t allowed wine. But I bet you could handle it.”

She pushed the wine glass towards him. He looked down at it. He imagined that it was blood.

“Just have a taste,” she encouraged. “Go on. Just a taste. It won’t kill you.”

He hadn’t tasted wine before. He picked up the glass and brought it to his face. The smell alone was enough to put him off, but he still drank it. He winced noticeably after it had hit his mouth, making Aunt Cass laugh, and he quickly returned the glass to her to finish off.

“Don’t like it?”

“Not really,” he said politely. It was the most disgusting thing he’d tasted in a long time.

“Well.” Aunt Cass drummed her painted nails on the table. She was smirking, not smiling. “If you don’t want wine or dessert then what _do_ you want, my darling?”

He felt paralyzed all over again before she had even touched him. He could only look on, helpless, as she sensually dragged herself up off her chair and pulled him up out of his. He was being led somewhere. And he already knew where.

Her bedroom wasn’t especially decorated like his own. The most obvious thing about it was a distinct lack of electronics and random computer parts. There were romance novels on the bedside table, satin pillows on the bed, make-up and perfume and jewellery on the dresser. She turned the light switch on and several soft red lanterns lit up at the frame of her bed. Her very sizeable bed.

Even with Tadashi out of the house for the night, she still felt the need to close her door.

She sat him down on her bed and stood before him, swaying a little from the booze. She stared down at him curiously for a moment. Then she began to roll her red straps off her shoulders, unzip herself, and step out of the dress as it fell to the floor. She stood there in only her bra and panties, but she quickly rid herself of those garments, too.

“Hiro,” she asked, pulling out her clips one by one and shaking out her hair. “…You’re alright with this, aren’t you?”

_Now’s your chance. Say something._

She took out her earrings next. “You like me doing these nice things for you, don’t you?”

_Say something._

“You love me, don’t you?”

_SAY SOMETHING. DO SOMETHING._

“My little Hiro.” She smiled and put a hand to his hot cheek, tracing little circles there. His heart thudded in his chest so hard, Hiro thought it might explode. “My little dove. I know you’re shy. But I’ll take care of you. It’ll be lonely without your brother tonight. But he needn’t know…” She pushed him gently so he was lying on his back, staring up at her flushed face. It was making such a sweet expression. “Why don’t you sleep here with me tonight?”

As she began to undress him, he started to feel himself well and truly lose all sense of agency and control. He wasn’t a participant. He wasn’t even a person anymore – he was just a lifeless doll to be pushed and pulled into position, to be rocked back and forth, to be licked and sucked and fucked. To be played with. To be torn to pieces.

And then she made him lie right next to her for the entire night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No special warnings in this one. Just general misery and confusion..? 
> 
> Thank you for all the wonderful comments and thank you in general for reading this depressing-as-all-hell story!

Now was a good chance to leave. The pale morning sky was starting to light up the room, even through thick curtains. Aunt Cass was still sleeping.

Silently, inch by inch, Hiro edged himself out from underneath her limp arm. He got to his feet and slowly crawled back into his clothes. He was shaking as the tension he’d held in his taut muscles all night started to ease up. It had been tiring – painful, even. But he hadn’t moved, not once. He’d stayed awake and alert all through the night. While she slept it off.

The next obstacle was the door. It was a door that had been known to squeak and get jammed on occasion, but he didn’t care anymore. His heart was thumping enough as it was. He couldn’t stand to stay even one more minute in her bedroom. He just braced himself and hoped she was deep enough in sleep not to notice him open the door, slip outside, and close it again.

He paused, but there were no sounds of movement on her end. If she had heard him leave, then she wasn’t coming after him.

Hiro walked around the house aimlessly. He had so wanted to believe that everything would be OK again once he’d just left that room. But he was out of the room now, and nothing had changed. He didn’t feel any less like one sharp move would explode his surroundings. He didn’t feel any less like he’d swallowed something big enough to get lodged in his throat. He didn’t feel like he was in control of his own body again - even though hours had passed since he’d lost all control.

He was back in his bedroom, with the door closed, but it didn’t feel like his bedroom to him. He honestly didn’t feel like he’d made a single move out of her bed. Like he was still trapped in there.

He wondered for a moment if he was going to feel like that forever.

\-------

Eventually the sun came up, and Hiro heard the sounds of Tadashi bounding up the stairs. He almost quite literally burst through their bedroom door, startling Hiro, and he chucked aside his bag to throw up his arms. He looked scarily wired. “Hiro!” he cried, grinning like a maniac. “Wow, you’re up already! I haven’t slept in over twenty-four hours! _Yeah!_ ”

Hiro started to feel distressed. Even seeing Tadashi wasn’t making him feel any less awful. When he looked at his brother, he didn’t feel the same calm and normality that he usually did. He just… felt resentment and guilt. It was hard just to look him in the eye. He turned back to his computer and tried to ignore his brother’s drunken, sleep-deprived antics, but Tadashi was making it difficult. He talked about his friends’ shenanigans excitedly, interrupting each story and going back to finish another one – he was all over the place. He couldn’t even form coherent sentences half of the time. He still sounded so _drunk._

Hiro threw an irked glance over his shoulder and saw that Tadashi could barely hold onto something without dropping it three seconds later. It took him over a minute just to change shirts. Hiro could even _smell_ the booze off him as his older brother walked up to give him a lopsided noogie.

He smelled just like Aunt Cass had last night. And suddenly, it was so clear to Hiro. Everything bad that had happened to him was because Tadashi wasn’t around anymore.

Everything bad that had happened to him was Tadashi’s fault.

“Get away from me!” Hiro shouted, grabbing Tadashi’s arm and throwing it behind him. Tadashi lost his balance for a moment, but he staggered back laughing. He still thought his little brother was joking. He wrapped his arms around Hiro’s waist, seizing him from his chair and lifting him up into the air. Hiro screamed so loud and fast that Tadashi dropped him.

“What the…?” Tadashi stared, uncomprehending, as Hiro picked himself up and stomped over to his side of the room. He slammed the divider closed so hard that it almost broke it. “Hiro _, be careful with that!_ What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Just go to sleep,” Hiro yelled. He noticed his brother’s shadow reaching for the partition and he wrestled with him to keep it closed.

“Hiro, stop – _stop!_ ” Tadashi managed to get the partition open with sheer strength, but his reflexes were slow. Hiro ducked out underneath him. “Wha-?” He looked around wildly until he found his younger brother again, just reaching for the door. “Hey – wait!” He slammed his full weight loudly onto the door before it could be opened.

“And you thought _I_ wasn’t being careful,” Hiro remarked snidely.

“Hiro, what’s wrong,” Tadashi begged.

“You’re an unbelievable _asshole_ , Tadashi.”

“Why, why?” He was shaking his head, astonished. He could see now that his younger brother was completely serious in his accusations. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”

“You want to know what’s going on with me?”

“ _Yes._ ”

“Knock, knock?”

Hiro felt his stomach drop through the floor. _No. Not now._

Tadashi pulled himself away from the opening door to reveal Aunt Cass, dressed only in her pink robe, her hair a tousled mess. Like she’d just woken up. “I heard a lot of banging – you boys aren’t breaking anything up here, are you?” Her eyes were wide with worry as she looked between the two of them. “What on earth are you yelling at each other for?”

“It’s nothing,” Hiro blurted before Tadashi could say anything. There was a frantic edge to his voice. He looked her in the eye and desperately tried to convince her, “we’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Then why are you picking fights with me?” Tadashi accused. “Every time I try to talk to you, you _hit_ me, or, or you yell at me!”

“Hiro,” Aunt Cass exclaimed quietly, and Hiro could feel himself _crumbling._ He felt like he was falling apart all over again.

Tadashi stared at him, waiting for an answer, but none was forthcoming. He sighed. “I don’t know, Aunt Cass, he’s been acting so _weird_ lately…”

Tadashi had turned so that he was on their Aunt’s side now; two against one. They shook their heads and shared their concerns for his recent violent behaviour and they looked down at him with forlorn apprehension. He felt like they were ganging up on him, criticising him for acting out the feelings he couldn’t confess. He felt suffocated. He just wanted to open up his mouth and _scream._

But he didn’t scream. Instead he burst into tears.

Before Hiro could even think to run, Tadashi had already swept him up into his arms and cradled him. He didn’t want to be cradled, even if he was crying like a baby, but he just didn’t have the energy to fight him. He didn’t have the energy to prove them wrong about him anymore.

“Poor Hiro,” Tadashi murmured, more to Aunt Cass than to his brother. “I _want_ to know why he’s so upset…”

“He’s tired,” Aunt Cass said. “I don’t think he slept very well last night…”

Hiro raised his ugly crying face to stare at them both. Tadashi looked so worried.

But he didn’t look _nearly_ as worried as Aunt Cass did.

\-------

When Hiro next woke up, it was in his brother’s arms, on his brother’s bed. The room was dark. He pulled himself up and looked out the window to see that the sky was already a deep blue, the city lights already bright and pulsing. They must’ve slept through the entire day.

Hiro shrugged off his brother and swung his legs over the bed to the floor. He rubbed at his eyes where some of his tears had dried many hours ago now. He _really_ needed a shower. He was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. The same clothes that had spent the previous night lying on Aunt Cass’ floor.

He leaned over his knees and held his head in his hands. He’d already had a good cry today but it hadn’t done him any good; he _still_ could’ve cried. He was afraid to start in case he’d never stop. Everything was so bleak now. Nothing felt good or comforting anymore. He couldn’t even do the thing he loved most in the world: using his big brain to create new and wonderful inventions. Not only did he feel taken advantage of, he felt robbed of his future. Was this just supposed to be his life from now on?

Contrary to what his brother always said, sometimes there were problems that just _couldn’t_ be thought a way out of.

_No. Look for a different angle._

After an extensive and _scorching_ shower, Hiro sat himself at his computer. He didn’t know what he was doing or what he was looking for. He clicked around, he followed links, he checked his usual sites, but nothing piqued his interest. Until he saw some ads for local bot-fighting arenas. And then inspiration hit him like a bolt of lightning.

That was it! That was how he was going to get himself and his _stupid_ brother out of this place. He rummaged through his drawers and the piles of junk on his desk until he found a little robot he’d put together just before he’d graduated. Megabot, he thought he called him back then. He dug up the controller – somehow miraculously not waking up his brother in the process – and hoped like hell that it all still worked and he didn’t need to do any major tinkering. And to his complete and utter satisfaction, it did work. It was ready and raring to kick all the other shiny metal asses out there.

It was the perfect plan. His brother didn’t have to drop out of the institute just to support them and their soon-to-be independence; _Hiro_ would support them with the money he hustled from bot-fighting. Everything would work out. Everything would be OK again.

He grabbed what cash he had and stuffed it in his hoodie on his way out. He tried to run straight past the kitchen when he heard Aunt Cass call his name.

He willed himself to just ignore her and _keep going,_ to kick-start his new future without her, but it was no use. He was just like her puppet.

“Hiro.” She approached him, gentle and hesitant. There was still so much worry in her eyes. “How are you feeling, sweetie? Better? Wh-Where do you think you’re going?”

“Out,” he said brusquely.

“At this hour? Oh, honey, I don’t know about that…” She turned her back for a second before coming back with a plate of food. “You haven’t had anything to eat all day. Here.” She tried to give him the plate but he wouldn’t take it from her, and she faltered. “You have to eat _something,_ Hiro. You’re a growing boy after all…”

“I don’t want it,” he said slowly, one word at a time. She raised her eyebrows at him and suddenly his meek attempt at sticking up for himself felt like disobedience and ungratefulness. He felt awful in completely new and unexpected ways.

“Hiro,” she whispered, and there were tears in her eyes. Hiro wanted to take joy in her sorrow but all he could feel now was guilt. It was incredible – the way she could make him feel like _he_ was hurting _her._ “I thought you loved me, Hiro…”

Silent tears rolled down her face. Her mouth quivered. It wasn’t fair, he thought. It wasn’t fair that she was doing this to him. “I-I _do_ love you, Aunt Cass,” he started, wiping a sleeve across his face. He wasn’t going to let her see him cry again, not right now. Not at this crucial moment. “B-But… I… I don’t…”

“ _Mmm, something smells good!_ ”

The words caught in Hiro’s throat. He looked back to see Tadashi merrily descending the stairs. And as soon he knew Aunt Cass had shifted her attention to his brother as well, he turned and bolted for the exit.

“ _Hiro, wait!_ ”

Even as Aunt Cass screamed for him to come back and Tadashi threw himself after him, he didn’t dare stop and face them now. He was chased all the way out into the street. Tadashi may have been fast, but clearly Hiro was a lot faster.

He was _going_ to those bot-fights. He was going to change his future. No one could stop him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeep, let's just keep those awful chapters coming...
> 
> Thank you so much for your kind comments <3

A few hours later on the backstreets of downtown San Fransokyo, and Hiro had already turned sixty dollars into six hundred easy. He had underestimated the genius of Megabot’s design; defeating people and their mediocre robots had been easier than expected. It had been a piece of ca… It had been a _cinch._ And, provided he knew where and when to play, he could always pretend to be the lost little boy that everyone thought he was to hustle up an extra hundred or so.

After spending some time watching Megabot beat other robots back into their individual parts with their own weapons, Hiro started to remember why he loved this stuff so much. He was _good_ at it. And for the first time in what must’ve been _weeks,_ he started to really feel like he was enjoying something again.

He had been enjoying bot-fighting _so_ much, in fact, that he’d completely forgotten that someone might’ve been out there looking for him. His immediate thought once he’d been grabbed around the waist and hurled away from the cheering crowd of people was that he was being _kidnapped –_ not that he had been found by his brother.

Hiro was only fleetingly happy to see him. He assumed that his brother wasn’t – just from the way he had been dropped back to the ground and shoved towards Tadashi’s moped. “Get on,” his brother commanded in his no-nonsense voice, handing him a helmet. To say he looked mad would’ve been an understatement. “We’re going home _right_ now.”

“You can’t talk to me like that.”

“Like what.”

“Like I’m a little _kid._ I’m doing great out here, Tadashi – really.” His brother sighed angrily and Hiro cast a furtive glance around before he pulled out almost a thousand dollars cash. He flicked through the notes like they were pages to a book. “Look at how much I scored tonight! Think of how much I could get if I did this _every_ night!”

Tadashi stared at him like he was out of his mind. “You’re never going bot-fighting again.”

Hiro’s good mood faltered. “Wait… what?”

He couldn’t go to SFIT, he couldn’t go bot-fighting… He was starting to think that he couldn’t do anything.

“Look, just – just get on, OK? I’m not discussing this here.” Tadashi straddled his moped and started it up, waiting for Hiro to jump on behind him. He revved the engine impatiently. “Hiro? Get on.”

“But… But, Dashi, I can get more money-“

“ _Hiro!_ ”

Some warbling ‘ooohs’ started up in the alley behind him. They were starting to attract unwanted attention. Tadashi looked like he was about to jump off the moped again and lunge for his younger brother, but Hiro stepped away from him before he could. “Listen to me,” Hiro cried, “I can earn a lot of money doing this! We’ll have more than enough money to pay for rent and food, and our expensive hobbies, and your school fees. We can leave the bakery!”

Tadashi took off his helmet and slammed it down onto the seat of his moped. He looked like he would’ve _really_ liked to reach over there and drag his brother home by the ear, but Hiro was lucky enough to have half-interested onlookers. Tadashi wasn’t going to cause a scene in front of them. He had no choice but to listen to him.

“I haven’t exactly been making a lot of stuff lately, especially robots… But, it’ll come back to me soon. I’m sure of it. I can become a professional bot-fighter. And you can get your masters or whatever and shape the future, like you’ve always wanted.”

Tadashi started to laugh, hard and sarcastic. He found something funny? “And what about Aunt Cass, huh? What about our _family?_ ”

“You’re over eighteen, you don’t need a legal guardian anymore. It’s fine.”

The anger in Tadashi’s expression melted. It gave way to something _much_ worse. He really looked like his feelings had been hurt. “Why are you so horrible?” he asked, and Hiro felt his chest tighten. Tadashi was struggling not to get emotional. “Don’t… Don’t you care about her feelings? Or mine? Don’t you think that _I_ might love living with my Aunt? In case you haven’t noticed, Hiro, I don’t exactly have a lot of living relatives.”

Hiro tried to make light of it. “We’ll get a place in town, real close by. Y-You can see her whenever you like.” Hell, Tadashi could even eat breakfast at her bakery every morning for all he cared – so long as he never had to see her again.

“What’s your _problem_ with her?” Tadashi shouted with frustration. His eyes were getting increasingly shiny. “She has been _nothing_ but kind and supportive and patient with you, and you’re so ungrateful for _all_ that she’s done for you. Why are you so _selfish-_ “

“I did what you asked,” Hiro shouted back. “I worked in that bakery for a solid _week…_ _And_ she never paid me, for the record.”

Hiro could tell that Tadashi was getting tired of this. By now they’d attracted more than a couple of bored lurking teenagers who were listening in on what should’ve been a very private conversation. Tadashi futilely gestured his moped one last time. “ _Please_ come home, Hiro? I’m so _worried_ about you. Aunt Cass is worried about you. We want to know what’s going on with you. We want to _help._ ”

Hiro didn’t know what a broken heart felt like, but he imagined that this was as close to it as he’d ever get.

He was starting to think that he could never be helped. The more he tried to reject Aunt Cass, the more Tadashi seemed to just push her back on him. Even if Hiro _did_ tell his older brother about the abuse, he wondered if he would ever be believed. Tadashi had idolised his Aunt _so_ much – this lady who had rescued him, fed him, given him a home and a future… Those kinds of allegations just weren’t in line with the kind of perfect person he thought she was. He would’ve been _far_ more inclined to think that his little brother was making it up. That it was just a distasteful lie an obstinate kid like Hiro conjured to make moving out seem like a good option.

His older brother was just going about this all wrong. And Hiro really thought he could’ve trusted him, but he wasn’t so sure anymore. He felt alone now more than ever.

Tadashi must’ve taken his silence to be a stubborn refusal to go with him. He threw up his arms helplessly. “…I’m not going to drag you, kicking and screaming, all the way back home.”

It sounded fair. Hiro couldn’t drag his brother away from the bakery, kicking and screaming. “Then don’t,” he said evenly. “Just go.”

Tadashi shook his head ruefully. “I’m not going to leave my little brother out in these parts thislate at night. Bad things could happen to you.”

Hiro almost scoffed. He doubted he could’ve experienced much worse than he already had. “Fine.”

“Fine.”

They appeared to be at some sort of impasse. They continued to just stare at each other awkwardly for a while until Tadashi announced, “I’m starving.”

Hiro had had some stale mystery crackers he’d found in his jacket earlier, but they hadn’t done much to stave off his hunger. He nodded. “Me too.”

Tadashi shrugged wearily. “…Burgers?”

\-------

Thank God for open-all-hours burger chains. Even as their short day ticked over to the next, the place was as packed and lively as Aunt Cass’ bakery on a weekday morning. Though, the clientele differed in demographics somewhat. And volume.

Hiro sat in a shiny red booth near the back, chomping his way through a big fish burger. Across from him sat Tadashi, who mostly just stared at his little brother incredulously when he wasn’t trying to steal some fries.

“You never told me how it went,” Hiro said.

“What?”

“Your presentation. To Callaghan. How did it go?”

Tadashi groaned. “Can we _please_ stop doing this? Pretending that everything is fine? Can we address the big elephant in the room here?”

“Is the big elephant you,” Hiro asked. “Dumbo?”

“Oh _ha ha._ ” Tadashi looked like he would’ve smacked him one if he wasn’t in a room full of witnesses. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he whipped it out, scrolling and then texting.

Hiro took a big, loud slurp from his drink. “Who’re you texting?”

“Aunt Cass.” Just hearing her name gave Hiro shooting pangs of guilt and nausea. “It’s past midnight and she wants to know what we’re still doing out.”

Hiro noticed that he was writing out a particularly long text. He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible when he asked, “What’re you telling her?”

Tadashi answered without even glancing up. “That you’re a stubborn, selfish little brat who doesn’t want to go to bed.”

Hiro’s mouth fell open. “Screw you,” he murmured, sliding himself out of the booth with his drink in hand and making his way sadly toward the exit. He pushed open the door and stood on the sidewalk in the cool breeze for a moment, collecting his thoughts, not knowing that his brother was right behind him.

“And where will you go now, genius,” Tadashi asked. “Huh? If you’re not going to come home with me then where will you go?”

“…Can I ask you something?” Hiro spun around to face his brother. “Who would you rather live with? Me, or Aunt Cass?”

Tadashi was surprised at him. “What… Why should I have to make that choice?”

“Just _answer the question._ ”

“This is _ridiculous!_ ” Tadashi cried. “I love _both_ of you! You don’t _say_ these things, Hiro! You don’t ask who loves who more or who you’d rather live with – that’s not the point of a _family._ Families stick _together!_ Which is why you can come off that _stupid_ idea of yours that we could move out.”

Hiro felt his bottom lip start to tremble. It wasn’t a stupid idea. It was the perfect idea. It was his new angle. It had taken him this long to find one; he didn’t want to think about how long it might take him to find another one.

He hadn’t even noticed that Tadashi had taken his drink from him until it had been upended directly over his head. Hiro gasped and tried to shake melted ice and soft drink out of his hair, but he could already feel his head and clothes get sticky. And the cold night air wasn’t helping him recover from the sharp, cold shock of it either. It was a painfully accurate portrayal of how he was feeling right now: like someone he loved and trusted had just poured a drink all over him.

“Oh no,” Tadashi said, poorly feigning surprise, “you’re wet and the weather’s cold – better get you home and into some warm, dry clothes before you get _hypothermia._ Come on, get on the moped. If you don’t go right now then I’m calling Aunt Cass out here.”

Hiro grudgingly climbed onto the vehicle behind Tadashi and put his arms around him, digging in his nails where he could. It didn’t matter anymore. As far as he was concerned, Aunt Cass and Tadashi were in cahoots, and they were _both_ as bad as each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends - I am sorry to have kept you waiting, but it's incredible how social I have been lately. (Also getting really frustrated because no one wants to ship BH6 merch to a New Zealander DX). Apologies if this chapter is all over the place - and it kind of really is - I'd written some stuff, forgotten about it, and then written other stuff that didn't quite mesh well with the first stuff :V whoops. The next chap is already half-finished so that should be up soon.
> 
> Again - thank you so much for the comments. I am so glad to see some of you get really passionate about my awful stories haha...

A few weeks had passed since it had happened. Hiro’s older brother was around a lot more now, but it didn’t seem to be doing the good that he thought it would. Even with Tadashi on break, it was still inevitable that Hiro would end up alone in a room with Aunt Cass again. She was just taking greater risks now, becoming more and more opportunistic by the day. The two of them would pass on the stairwell and she couldn’t resist groping him in some way, or saying something that would make his face burn fiercely.

Tadashi had already been somewhat of a social butterfly – at least, compared to Hiro – and he had friends in various disciplines at the institute whose schedules had been just as hectic as his over the semester. He had been looking forwards to _finally_ sitting down with some coffee and just hanging out with them. But every time he mentioned it, Hiro would speak up. He’d try to put his older brother off the idea, and he tried almost every time.

It was unbelievable, some of the things he said out of desperation just to make his brother stay with him. Sometimes he thought he was beginning to sound like Aunt Cass. _Don’t you love me?_

But, despite Hiro’s efforts, Tadashi just couldn’t stand to stay home and play games and watch films with his needy little brother allday. He had friends to see, but he also had errands to run for himself and others. Sometimes he’d be patient enough to let Hiro accompany him, but other times he made it clear that he ran unnecessary errands just to get awayfrom him for a few hours.

As Tadashi left, he always apologised profusely, in a way that became less and less sincere over time, and promised to buy his little brother something while he was out, anything he wanted. But it didn’t matter to Hiro whether he brought back something or not. He still acted like Tadashi was dead to him.

Tadashi never missed a chance to say goodbye to Aunt Class. She liked to keep track of her nephews – in case of emergencies, she always reminded them. Where they were going. How long they would be. If there was anything else that she needed Tadashi to pick up while he was out, prolonging his trip…

It usually didn’t take five minutes after Tadashi had gone for Aunt Cass to visit Hiro in his room. She always approached him, smiling kind and dressed as a domestic goddess, holding some cake or a slice or something. Hiro thought that maybe it was some kind of conditioning tactic; she was trying to make him associate her visits with the sweet delight of dessert foods. But it was starting to have the opposite effect on him. He felt sick to his stomach whenever he so much as looked at a piece of cake now.

Each and every time she touched him, he returned to the same puppet-like state. With glazed-over eyes and unmoving limbs. But lately, she’d been pulling on his strings and quietly making him do things he never would’ve done on his own. But then, afterwards, she always made it seem like everything he’d done was of his own volition…

Tadashi must’ve felt guilty on some level for leaving him at home. Even when Hiro was rude and aggressive, he still often came home with one or two packets of candy he’d picked up at the closest convenience store. It must’ve tasted great, Hiro thought. It must’ve cost a bit of money too.

But it was starting to have the same kind of effect on him as Aunt Cass’ cakes.

\-------

Every few days, Tadashi was caught trying to sneak out an hour or so before the two of them usually woke up, with a note to explain his albeit _brief_ absence. And when Hiro just happened to awake to the sounds of Tadashi screwing up his swift and silent abscond, he would be up instantly. He yelled hurtful things he didn’t really mean, not in a million years, and he hurled all sorts of figures and parts and _junk_ he no longer cared about at his brother’s retreating back.

Hiro didn’t always act this violently when his brother left. Only when he left when he _knew_ that Hiro was still sleeping. Because, if Hiro wasn’t woken up by his brother’s departure, then he was woken up by something else entirely.

Sometimes she didn’t even wake him up before she started on him.

\--------

Some days Aunt Cass liked to just sit with him and hold him and play with his mess of hair, while he continued to watch his movie and pretend that she wasn’t there. It wasn’t worse than any of the many other things she did, but it wasn’t any better either. Because sometimes she talked to him and Hiro could start to sympathise with her. And that was the very, very, _very_ lastthing that he wanted to do. But he couldn’t shut her out. She talked about how lonely she had been, and how she hadn’t had a real boyfriend for some time now. She talked about how some men could be cruel and repugnant and domineering.

She said that Hiro was nothing like that, though. Hiro was different. Hiro was kind, he was cute, he was loyal. He would never hurt her. Being with him was so much more effortless than being in any real relationship with an older man. And it didn’t matter that he was so young, she reasoned. He was young, but he wasn’t a little kid; he was _smart,_ and _so_ mature for his age. He wasn’t like other men. He wasn’t like other boys.

She laughed and told him how it was a shame he didn’t have any friends his age to brag about her to. Boys his age would’ve been so jealous, she told him. He was a lucky boy, she told him.

Hiro felt many things these days. But ‘lucky’ had never been one of them.

\--------

One day when Tadashi came home, some few hours after he’d left, Hiro was found hunched over the bathroom sink in their shared bathroom. He had the tap running, taking up handfuls of hot water into his mouth and spitting them back out again. And again. And again. He’d been repeating these motions for a while now. His mouth was starting to feel good and scalded.

“Hey. Genius.” Hiro didn’t turn to catch the bag of gummy bears Tadashi had tossed at him. They hit his back and fell to the floor, and Hiro just left them there. “I got you some bears. They were pretty cheap today so I’ve got a few more bags for you once you’ve finished those… Uhm…” Hiro saw through the mirror that his brother was leaning against the doorframe, appraising him with half-amused curiosity. “Uh… What are you doing?”

Hiro paused and shrugged. “Just…” It was hard to talk with his mouth feeling so sore and swollen. “Washing it out.”

Tadashi raised an eyebrow. “Washing what out?”

“The taste.”

The amusement had left Tadashi’s smile. He continued to stare for a few more moments before he picked up the dropped bag and placed it by Hiro’s hand. “Well, why don’t you wash out that taste with some gummy bears…” He started talking and he didn’t stop. “You know you can soak these in vodka? They taste _so good._ Not that you’ll get to try them for another few years yet. Honey made some for us the other week – I think she said that someone at SFIT is actually trying to make an ester that will…”

Hiro was falling apart right in front of them. And neither of them seemed to care.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah.... everything has been building up to this. This ridiculously long chapter right here (sorry). This is where things start to take a turn... for the worst??? (dundundun)
> 
> Once again - your comments give me strength. Thank you, lovelies <3 please enjoy

Hiro was sitting on the bean bag, gazing out the window, wiping dark red lipstick off his mouth. He had to get it all off. His brother would be home any minute now.

He faintly recalled the reason why his brother had stopped their game to go out. To get more supplies, he’d said, or something along those lines. Supplies? What supplies? What for? He turned his head towards the calendar and saw that it was a Saturday. Not that it made a difference to Hiro – every day was just as slow and tedious and foreboding as the next, like an endless Sunday afternoon. The coming Monday on the calendar was marked with big red text that he couldn’t quite make out from his distance… Did it say ‘resume’? Resume what?

Hiro was in the warm sun but he suddenly felt cold. Resume SFIT. The new semester would begin. In a day or so, Tadashi would be back at the Institute, spending anywhere between two and twelve hours on campus, five or six days a week. Hiro would be at home all alone again. With no one around. Except for…

“No,” he murmured. He started shaking his head slowly, then faster. “No,” he repeated with more urgency. “No. No. _No._ ”

He wasn’t just going to lie there and take it anymore. He wasn’t going to be her puppet anymore. He was going to put his trust into his older brother. He was finally going to tell him the truth.

He leaped to his feet with fresh resolve and started pacing. If nothing about his awful situation was going to change, then Hiro was going to throw himself out a _window._ He had to brave. He had to be convincing. He had to _constantly_ remind himself, as he paced nervously around his bedroom, waiting for Tadashi to come back, that any consequences that came from his confession would’ve resulted in a _better situation than he was in now_. What was the worst that could happen? Aunt Cass was _manipulative,_ but she wasn’t violent. And Tadashi was kind-hearted, deep down underneath all that ignorance. If he could just _tell_ Tadashi what was going on, then he’d find out once and for all if his brother was on his side or not.

He had _options,_ he kept telling himself. He was a _person with_ _feelings and rights_. He didn’t have to live like this anymore. There were _options._

Even if his brother _did_ react adversely, Hiro couldn’t be stopped from just walking out the door.

\-------

“I’m home, Hiro,” Tadashi announced routinely as he walked in, tossing his keys to the desk. He looked up and was pleasantly surprised to see that his little brother wasn’t sitting on his bed grouchily as usual, all turned away and aggressively ignoring him. No, today Hiro was standing in the middle of the room, doe-eyed with anticipation. “Hey, buddy,” Tadashi smiled and ruffled his hair. “Listen, we can pick up where we left off with that game in a minute – I just have to put some things away.”

As Tadashi whistled and put away some books and pens, Hiro closed the door and jammed an old chair underneath it. He checked that the handle wouldn’t budge and hoped that it would stay. The last thing he needed was Aunt Cass trying to check in on them; he wasn’t going to let her throw him off again.

Hiro stood in front of the chair so his brother wouldn’t know anything was up. Tadashi brushed off his hands and smirked at him. “So was I the blue controller or the red one?”

Hiro forced himself to act casual. “D… Doesn’t matter.” He tossed him one from his desk. “I could still beat your sorry ass even if I started with the disadvantage of _your_ bad playing.”

“You talk big for a little kid,” Tadashi laughed, taking a seat on the floor. “I will _annihilate_ you.”

“Don’t count on it, nerd.”

They resumed the Tekken-styled fighting game they’d been playing an hour before Tadashi had gone out. Hiro usually won those games fairly quickly. His older brother often tried to tell him that it was just his sheer dumb luck every time, because there was _no_ strategy to winning a round. Hiro reckoned that only sore losers ever said that. But, as much as he loved just pounding Tadashi into the ground and setting new records for the quickest K.O., he slowed it down today. He was trying to draw his brother’s interest out.

“Oh my God,” Tadashi uttered, astounded, eyes never leaving the colourful screen. “I’m actually beating you… I’m actually…”

Hiro started mashing a useless button. He’d let his brother have this round. “Ooh, you got me, bro.”

“ _Ha!_ ” Tadashi shouted triumphantly and jabbed a pointed finger at his brother. “In your _face!_ ”

Hiro shoved his hand out of his face. “You haven’t secured your victory yet, moron…”

They played another few rounds. They swapped characters and backgrounds. And Hiro was getting more and more tense by the second as he prepared himself to just spit it out. He was losing every fight now; he couldn’t make his fingers move fast enough for all their trembling. His whole mouth felt dry. His heart beat like he was seconds from death. The bright colours on screen were making him feel dizzy…

He was too panicked. He could feel himself start to back down.

_Maybe I could tell him later when-_

_No_. He had to say something now. He should’ve said something a long time ago, but that didn’t matter anymore – he had to tell his brother the truth _now,_ before things could get any worse than they already had through his silence. He had to _say something._

He glanced over at Tadashi. He was just sitting there, fingers moving so effortlessly over the controller, smiling up at the flashing screen. He looked so innocent. Like he had absolutely no idea of the carnal atrocities that had been going on in his own home.

 _Come on_ , Hiro goaded himself. _It’s not so hard. Don’t be embarrassed. Be brave. Tadashi loves you. Nothing bad is going to happen. Just be brave. Just wait for the right moment and then…_

“Dashi?”

“Yeah, loser?”

Hiro paused. _No, keep going. He doesn’t mean it. Don’t let it knock you. Just keep going._ “Sh-Sh-he abuses me.”

His brother turned a sharp, inquisitive glance towards him, then went back to the screen. He looked like he thought he had misheard his little brother. But he probably hadn’t. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Hiro gulped. He couldn’t go back now. This was the point of no return. “Aunt Cass… She abuses me.”

Tadashi had gone silent. Hiro couldn’t even feel his arms anymore; they were just hollow tubes that flowed from his body and onto this machine that had suddenly gone quiet of all punching and groaning noises. Tadashi had stopped playing. Hiro had stopped playing.

Hiro could hear the hard confusion in his brother’s voice. “What… Wait, what do you _mean_ she _‘abuses’_ you? What does that mean?”

It was embarrassing. Hiro didn’t want to say it, but he had to. Red filled his cheeks and tears filled his eyes. He’d just been lying to himself before. He didn’t think that he’d ever done something so hard in his entire life. “She touches me,” he admitted in a small voice. It could barely be heard over the background game music. “She… does… sexual things with me…”

“ _With_ you?”

“ _On_ me, I don’t know…”

Hiro lowered his head. His body was racked with tears and nervous shaking now. He was clutching his controller so hard he thought he might break it, sending plastic splinters right through his hands. He was so scared. He couldn’t even look at his brother right now; he had no idea what kind of face he was making at him.

“…Are you serious?”

“ _I’m not lying,_ ” Hiro said, and the tears were hot and choked in his voice. It was so hard to breathe. He sounded just like a little boy again. “When-ever you’re out, she… that’s when she…” He wiped his face on his shirt sleeve. He swallowed hard. Everything hurt. “That’s when she comes here and does those things with me. Th-That’s why I… want you to stay with me all the time.” He couldn’t handle this. He let his controller clatter to the floor so he could put his face in his hands. He wasn’t even sure if his words could be heard coherently through the tears anymore. “I don’t want to be alone with her. I’m not lying, please _believe me, Dashi..._ ”

Hiro understood that his brother needed time to process everything. But every second of uncertain silence that ticked past made Hiro feel like the nerves in his taut arms were bursting, like his hot head was going to explode with emotion, like he was going to be physically sick from overwhelming anxiety. His composure was ruined; he was crying openly now, into his hands. If his brother didn’t start talking soon then he’d be wailing. Even though he’d done nothing wrong, he felt like a colossal fuck-up who had colossally fucked up. He felt horrible.

When he felt his brother shift, he was convinced that it was to get up and walk out the door. But then, quite unexpectedly, he felt his brother grab him and wrap him up in one of the strongest hugs he’d ever been in. It was like being barred by two iron support beams. Only those beams were also shaking, like he was.

“I…” Tadashi was finding it difficult to speak too. He sounded like he was losing his voice. “I don’t think you’re _lying,_ Hiro, I just… I find it _really_ hard to believe that… Aunt _Cass?_ But… she’s so sweet, and… ” He sounded like he needed a minute, and Hiro let him have it. He had his hug for now. As his stress started to fade, Tadashi’s seemed to escalate in response. He asked questions that he sounded like he _really_ didn’t want to know the answers to. “How long has…? She…?”

It was hard to shrug when Hiro’s shoulders were being crushed and bound by the hug. It even started to hurt a little, but he didn’t care. “A month,” he said. “Maybe more… I don’t know… It’s… hard… to say when she started…”

Each answer hit Tadashi like actual physical impact. He felt… devastated. Distraught. And as much as Hiro realised that this was a good reaction, it still broke him. It still made him wish – if only a little bit – that he’d kept his mouth shut and kept playing the game and never made his big brother so upset.

“ _Why didn’t you say anything?_ ” Tadashi cried. He drew Hiro back, braced his shoulders, and shook him. “ _Why didn’t you tell me so I could…_ ”

Hiro peered up at him guardedly. _No, please_ , he wanted to say. He wanted Tadashi to finish that sentence. So he could… what? _Not_ ignore his desperate pleas to move out?

“Why didn’t you tell me,” Tadashi repeated more calmly, easing up his firm grip. He looked so inconsolably anxious. “Hiro? Why didn’t… You and Aunt Cass… You didn’t… did you?” Hiro squinted and waited for his brother to make more sense. There was clearly something he wanted to ask without actually having to say the words. “Did you and her… have…?”

Hiro was starting to get annoyed with him. “Yes, we had sex,” he snapped. “She raped me.”

And then Tadashi made an expression that frightened Hiro. He had thought his older brother was beginning to understand the severity of what had happened to him, but that small, fleeting, uncertain grimace had spoken volumes. Hiro shoved at him to be released, to get as far away from him as possible. He was going to start crying again.

“Hiro, wha-!” Tadashi tried to restrain him. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t believe me, do you,” Hiro accused, tearful and angry. “I _know_ what that look means!”

“What look?!”

“That,” he poorly tried to imitate it, “look! You don’t think that… it’s real. Just because I’m a boy.”

It had been just another haunting barrier to confiding in his brother. Late at night Hiro had sat up at his computer, browsing forums that occasionally touched upon the subject of sexual abuse. Almost every time he found that he related a hell of a lot more to girls’ experiences than he did to boys’, who liked to show off their bravado for sleeping with a women twice their age, or else they would be told that they were so _lucky_ if they complained.

Tadashi made a face like he had no idea what he was on about. But it looked forced. “ _What_? No… Hiro, look, maybe we should talk this out with Aunt Cass, and then we could –“

_Talk this out with Aunt Cass?_

Hiro couldn’t control himself. Resentment surged through his bloodstreams, and before he could decide against it he’d punched his older brother right in the face. He’d punched Tadashi so hard that he cried out and fell backwards.

Hiro shakily stood over him. “I shouldn’t have trusted you,” he said, voice trembling. He watched, breathing heavily, as Tadashi rolled over onto all fours and put a hand up to his face. “You know, I actually… Sometimes, I thought you knew about it. And you just didn’t…” It hurt to say it. It sent his heart plummeting through the floor. “You just didn’t _care._ ”

Tadashi looked over his shoulder at him. He was covering one of his eyes gingerly. “Hiro, that’s… That’s ridiculous. Of _course_ I didn’t know about it. What kind of big brother would I be if I _knew_ about that and just… did nothing…”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

Hiro walked over him and Tadashi actually _flinched._ It gave Hiro such a rush; it made him feel powerful and in control. It was a nice feeling he hadn’t been able to experience lately. But he still felt so full of hate and regret and betrayal – the kind that just made him want to stomp on Tadashi’s stupid _apologetic_ face until his feet got sore. But he was going to put all of that negative energy to good use.

He was going to get the hell out of there.

He noticed that the fighting game was still playing. He didn’t bother to turn it off properly; he just walked over and switched off the console. Then he walked over to his side of the room and dug around underneath his bed. He resurfaced with an empty canvas satchel, which he slung over his shoulder as he worked his way around the room, stuffing in clothes and gadgets and toiletries and hard-drives, and anything else he was going to miss when he was gone.

“What… What are you doing? Stop.” Tadashi pulled himself up to his feet and stared, horrified. He raised his voice. “Hiro? What the hell are you _doing?_ ”

“What does it look like?” Hiro barked, not stopping. He worked faster. He almost had everything he thought he needed now. “I’m going to get my own place.”

“You can’t get your own place – you’re only _fourteen._ ”

“Yeah, well… I’m sure there’s someone shady out there who’ll let me stay in a place if I pay them enough. I’ll sleep out of a _trash can in the street_ if I have to – anywhere’s better than here.”

That was everything he wanted. He zipped up his bag and started towards the door, when he realised that he’d jammed a chair underneath the handle earlier. He cried out angrily and dropped his bag to the floor to get the damn thing out of the way. Aunt Cass had barely walked up the stairs; the chair had proved itself to be more of a hindrance than a precaution. Tadashi was already walking over.

“Come _on,_ ” Hiro yelled, frustrated, but it was too late. Tadashi was right behind him. His arms wound around his little brother’s shoulders tightly. Hiro couldn’t move.

“Hiro, please.”

“ _Let_ … Let me go, Tadashi.” Hiro had meant to sound livid, but his brother’s tenderness was giving him pause. He was mad, but Hiro didn’t _want_ to leave Tadashi behind. He wanted him to _understand_. He sighed sullenly. “I’m not staying here anymore. I can’t do it. You’re going to go back to SFIT soon, and… I’ll be stuck here with her again… I can’t… If you ever really cared about me, Dashi, then you’d just let me go.”

Tadashi started to cry. It alarmed Hiro. He could’ve counted the number of times he’d witnessed his older brother crying on one hand, and that _included_ their parents’ funeral. He turned to face Tadashi and it was true. He made for one hopelessly ugly crier. But it was so sincere. It was so wretched. And, it looked _incredibly_ painful for that one eye Hiro had left bruised and swollen, and now leaking with tears.

Hiro jumped a little when Tadashi laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m…Mm-I’m a…” God, he was blubbering so bad that he could barely get a few words out. _Get it together,_ Hiro wanted to say. It was actually a bit funny to see his usually-so-staunch big brother cry like a little baby. But Tadashi eventually got the words out. “I’m a _terrible big brother,_ ” he cried.

Hiro widened his eyes. “What? _Noooo…_ ” Hiro had said it _pretty_ sarcastically, but Tadashi still shook his head adamantly like he was trying to disagree with him. It actually made Hiro chuckle a little.

“No, I am,” he cried out. “I _am._ I… Because I knew that…”

Hiro’s mouth fell open. “Wait, you _did_ know?”

“I only knew that something was wrong between you and Aunt Cass, but…” He let his head fall forward. He raised a hand and patted at his swollen eye gently. He sucked in a deep breath only to waste it on some more crying. “I thought… I was so _stupid_ , I just… thought that everything would work out, and you would stop acting like a brat soon, and… And _now_ you’re trying to _leave our home and I’m just…_ ” He shook his head some more. “I’m so _sorry,_ Hiro. _Please_ don’t leave.”

“Woah, hey…” Hiro’s anger had almost completely subsided now, seeing his brother look this regretful. He patted him on the shoulder. “Look, I… _don’t_ want to leave without you. But… you’re not giving me much of a choice here, bro…”

“ _God_ ,” Tadashi breathed, squeezing his eyes shut. “What would mum and dad say?”

Hiro hadn’t known them very long in his small life to guess what they might say in any given situation. But he thought he could take a stab in the dark. “Probably that you… should do the right thing and… look out for your little brother?”

Tadashi opened his eyes – one of them anyway – and stared at Hiro. He was making such a sad, sorrowful expression that it gave Hiro chills. “I just… Our family’s been through enough, you know,” he choked out quietly. “I just wanted a family… And I know that’s no excuse, but… and Aunt Cass…” He shrugged helplessly. “She’s still _family._ ”

 _Family._ That’s right.

Sometimes Hiro forgot that Tadashi was not three but _seven_ years old when their parents tragically passed away. Hiro was still so young then that – even if he _was_ a genius – he wasn’t anywhere near Tadashi’s level of understanding just what had happened to their suddenly absent parents. Their deaths had obviously impacted his brother a hell of a lot more. It made sense that Tadashi loved Aunt Cass so much and held such high opinions of her. She had been amazing – adopting the both of them despite her complicated circumstances, trying to give them a normal life after everything they’d been through.

…But sometimes amazing people did horrible things. And Tadashi needed to understand that now, for both their sakes.

“Every day, I feel like I owe her my life,” Tadashi whispered. “She was so good to us – she was so _strong_ for us when mum and died, and… I just… _still can’t believe_ that she would… ever hurt you, or me, or _anyone_ else.”

“Well…” Hiro didn’t know how he was going to explain this, but he was going to try. “It’s not really… _hurtful,_ what she does – like in the conventional way. It’s different. It’s like… She tells me that I’m really mature for my age, and it makes me feel really good about myself. But… then… she’ll tell me that I’m better than other guys. And that… I can do the same things that adults do. Like…” He looked away for a second. “Sex things... A-And she gives me _loads_ of cakes and tells me she loves me because she wants me to love her too. I think sometimes she actually _does_ believe that I do… Because she’s so lonely…” He frowned then. “It doesn’t excuse her actions, though.”

Tadashi nodded lightly in agreement. He was no longer bawling; just snivelling occasionally now. “I’m sorry, Hiro,” he murmured, wiping at his tears. “I couldn’t… protect you.”

Hiro tried to smile. “You can _now,_ though. Remember my perfect plan? Where we get a place together? You sign the lease, I pay the rent? You go on studying to change the world one day, and I become the world’s youngest championship bot-fighter?”

Tadashi was silent for a long moment. His gaze slipped to the floor. Hiro realised that this was _hard_ for him, sure, but… with all due respect, _he_ hadn’t been the one being abused and manipulated all this time.

“Tadashi…? I’m serious.” Hiro picked up his satchel once again to cement his point. “I’m sorry that we can’t all stay together like you want. But I can’t even be in the same room as her anymore… You get that, right? She just… has such a hold over me. I’m not myself around her.” He was her puppet. She beckoned him and he kneeled, like a dog. “So, either you can come with me, or I can go it alone... I’ll still visit you. At the Institute or something.”

Hiro’s hand hovered over the door handle and Tadashi slowly raised his red eyes back to him. His stare was begging him _don’t do this._ But he whispered, “You’re not going alone.”

Hiro perked up. He felt elated – _relieved_. “You’re leaving with me?”

Tadashi nodded carefully. “I’ll leave with you.”

“Well… Great!” He patted his big brother on the cheek twice. Tadashi reacted like it was another couple of blows. “So… uh, someone has to tell her. Or should we just leave a note? We could leave as soon as you’re done packing? _Oh_ – if we hurry then I can catch some bot-fights tonight, and then we’ll have enough money to get one of those _really_ fancy hotel rooms, with the chocolates on the pillows and the spa-baths! I’ll check for fights now.”

Hiro whipped out his phone to access the website detailing all the local bot-fights for the night. Tadashi raised a limp hand to stop him. “Hiro…”

“ _Hiro? Tadashi?_ ”

Hiro felt his blood run cold. _No. This isn’t happening. Not now. No. No, no, no, no, no –_

Aunt Cass knocked on the door. She was right outside. “Are you boys hungry?”

Hiro could feel his stress levels rising again. His breathing had become shallow and sharp. His nails dug into the strap on his satchel like someone was threatening to snatch it right out of his hands. Hiro felt like a cornered animal, like he’d never get out of this house now – no matter how close he was to escaping her.

Tadashi must’ve seen how terrified Hiro was just to hear her voice because something changed in his expression then. It was only a slight shift in his eyebrows and mouth, but it represented a mental decision that was so much more. He touched Hiro’s head supportively and whispered, slow and clear so that there were no misunderstandings, “I’m going to have a talk with her.” Hiro made a frantic expression and opened his mouth to protest him, but Tadashi quickly cut him off, “Why don’t you start packing some of my things for me?”

Hiro stared at him silently. There was such a _meaningful_ look in his eye. He thought he might know what Tadashi was trying to say. _Even though I’m going to talk to her, I’m not going to change my mind. I’m not going to abandon you. I’m not going to let you leave without me._

As Tadashi slipped out of the bedroom and descended the stairs, Hiro could hear Aunt Cass gasp and cry out, “ _Oh my God, Tadashi – what happened to your eye?_ ”

Hiro didn’t want to get his hopes up _too_ high. He wasn’t out of the woods just yet.

But he was starting to feel very hopeful.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking this may be the second to last chapter :( we're definitely nearing the end now at least... It has been quite a journey, friends. As always, thank you so much to the commenters! (wow, some of you were really desperate to know what happens next, huh?)
> 
> I hope this chapter came out okay... :V

Hiro checked the time on his watch. It had been over an hour since Tadashi had gone downstairs to, as he said, “have a talk with” Aunt Cass. Having packed up all his essentials in record time, Hiro hadn’t left himself with a lot to do except mess around on his phone. He’d finished packing up all of Tadashi’s things too. But he was beginning to get restless. He would’ve liked a text from his brother or something – just to let him know what was going on down there. Because he was so very curious now. Curious and, admittedly, afraid.

He couldn’t stay put any longer, he decided. He got to his feet and almost tripped getting to the door; he’d been jumping one knee up and down for so long that he had lost all feeling in it. He leaned against his desk and gave himself a minute just to shake his leg awake before he quietly left his bedroom.

He could hear them. They were just murmured voices in the distance, but it was something. So they were talking. The thought had occurred to Hiro that his big brother could’ve lost control of his temper and done something regretful – namely, hurting Aunt Cass in a retributive and physically comparable way to how she had hurt him. But that hadn’t appeared to be the case, thankfully.

Not that Hiro would’ve immediately stepped in to stop him. Not until after the first one or two blows anyway.

Hiro crept down the stairs, careful not to make the boards squeak and give away his position. He hovered just a few steps before the landing, just out of their sight. He leaned forward a little, confident he was shrouded in enough shadows that no one would notice his little head poking out –watching them, listening to them.

It made Hiro uneasy, what he saw. There were plates of food in front of them, but they looked untouched. There was more than one wine bottle on the dining table and not one but _two_ half-finished glasses that were being routinely picked up and put down and refilled. Aunt Cass had her elbows on the table – something she once told Hiro never to do because it was impolite – with her hands covering her face, almost in a way that looked ashamed. Tadashi had one hand on the stem of his glass and one hand on her back. He was just staring at his meal before him, mouth upturned, like it was the most unappetising thing he’d ever laid eyes on. But he wasn’t looking at the food, Hiro realised. His eyes looked far too distant.

It was so quiet in there now, so eerily quiet. There was a clock around, somewhere, because he could hear it ticking, and that was all. It was like someone had just died.

It occurred to Hiro that there might’ve been a good reason why Tadashi didn’t want him around to hear what Aunt Cass had to say about him. But Hiro was determined to hear it anyway. He could take it, he promised himself. He could take it.

Aunt Cass sucked in a deep breath and brought her face up out of her hands. She wiped at her red, puffy eyes with a tissue. She’d rubbed her make-up right off. “I’m sorry,” she said, and Hiro could hear her just fine. She sounded so teary and morose. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Tadashi started tapping his finger against his glass. He picked it up and had a generous gulp. Despite the fact that they must’ve been drinking for the last hour, they both looked completely sober. “Please stop saying sorry to me,” Tadashi uttered into the quiet room. “I’m not the one you need to apologise to.”

“Could you ever forgive me?”

The corners of Tadashi’s mouth pulled down. His face looked stiff. He looked ill. “I don’t know,” he murmured after a long pause. “I’d only ever forgive you if Hiro does.”

She sobbed, “Do you think…? He will, won’t he?”

Tadashi started shaking his head, frowning. “Aunt Cass, you… This isn’t something you can just apologise for and expect everything to be fine again. You… really messed him up. It might take _years_ before he could even…” He sighed, giving up on that train of thought. He had another slow drink and Aunt Cass joined him. His eyes were glistening. “It’s not like you. This isn’t how you used to be. You were never so selfish and… so _stupid._ What were you even thinking? He’s just a _kid._ ”

“People always say that about him but it’s just not true. He’s so smart and mature and-“

“Are you serious?” Tadashi turned his head towards her. There were flashes of disbelief and anger across his face. “Are you _fucking serious?_ ”

From the stairwell, Hiro’s mouth dropped open. He’d never heard his brother swear before. Not _ever._

Tadashi started raising his voice. “Yeah, he’s a genius, but he’s still a _child,_ Aunt Cass. He’s emotionally and physically undeveloped. He’s – for _fuck’s_ sake, he hasn’t even gone through puberty yet! He didn’t _know_ any better. He probably didn’t even know what you were _doing_ half the time, _God…_ ” Tadashi rubbed vigorously at his head then, like he was trying to rub away any mental images that might’ve assailed him from just mentioning it. He wasn’t doing too good. “I can’t believe that this is really happening…”

Hiro jumped as he felt something nudge the back of his head. Oh. It was just Mochi. He patted the cat absently, still listening.

“I never forced him to do anything,” Aunt Cass said suddenly, and Hiro felt his stomach drop. “I never made him do anything that he didn’t want to do… He was agreeable. And he still _enjoyed_ himself, you know…“

Hiro understood _exactly_ what she meant by ‘ _enjoyed’_ and he suddenly felt like it was happening all over again. God, he just wanted to disappear off the face of the earth. Why did he _ever_ think that listening in on this conversation was a good idea.

“Oh my God,” Tadashi choked out, turning away from her. “I think I’m going to be sick…”

Aunt Cass continued despite Tadashi’s reaction. She was beginning to sound a little defensive now. “He was _more_ than capable of deciding for himself whether he wanted to be with me or not. I gave him so many opportunities to tell me how he felt about us.”

“Yeah?” Tadashi seemed sceptical. “And what did he say?”

“He’s a shy boy… But I know that he loves me.”

“He _doesn’t love you in that way._ ”

“Then how come you’re only hearing about this now? How come he kept our little secret for _months?_ ”

Mochi was rubbing against Hiro and purring more enthusiastically now, but Hiro couldn’t keep patting him. He was far too on edge.

“None of that _matters_ , Aunt Cass,” Tadashi cried out. “It doesn’t even matter if he _did…_ ” He couldn’t say it. He just couldn’t. “The point is that youwere supposed to be the _responsible adult._ You’re his _legal guardian!_ You were supposed to _protect him_ from… from people like you. And, instead, you took advantage. You ruined him.”

“I didn’t ruin him…”

Tadashi rocked in his chair, frustrated. He looked like he wanted to shout at her, but he made a strenuous effort to keep his voice down. “I don’t know _how_ you _ever_ thought that he could be in love with you. Have you ever stopped and just looked at him – _really_ looked at him? Or have you been too caught up in your own fantasy to realise that he hasn’t done _anything_ these past few months.”

Aunt Cass emptied the bottle into her glass. She seemed distracted. “I wouldn’t know,” she murmured, “he likes to keep to himself-”

“He hasn’t touched any of his robots, he hasn’t been making anything new. He’s abandoned all of the projects he’d _so_ been looking forward to working on once he’d finished high school. But now he… He just sits there and watches movies all day. And he gets so upset when I even so much as _step out_ for an hour or two because that’s when _you_ abuse him. He’s _anxious and depressed_ because of you – he’s _not_ _in love._ ”

“ _Ow,_ ” Hiro cried as Mochi dug his claws and teeth into the back of his head. He jumped up and swiped at the stupid cat until it bolted upstairs.

As Hiro settled back down, rubbing at his sore head, he noticed that it had gone quiet.

Tadashi appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking up. The corners of his eyes crinkled regretfully as they connected with his little brother’s. “What are you _doing_ here…? How long have you been there?”

“Not that long,” Hiro said quickly. “Like… five, ten minutes…”

“Hiro?”

Hiro heard Aunt Cass leave her chair, but Tadashi put out an arm and blocked her from coming any closer. His expression was severe. “No.”

“Can I talk to him?” Hiro heard her ask.

“I don’t think he wants to talk to you right now.”

“Please,” she begged, “please, it’ll just be for a few minutes. Now that he’s here, maybe he could clear up a few things for the both of us.”

Tadashi shifted his gaze back to Hiro. He seemed to be searching for his little brother’s approval, but Hiro wasn’t sure whether to give it to him or not.

“Please, Tadashi, you’re being ridiculous,” Aunt Cass said as she barged past him and came to stand on his other side. Hiro could feel himself grow tense as she stared up at him, her green eyes full of fresh tears. “Darling,” she murmured, smiling. How he _hated_ her smile. “Why don’t you tell your brother how you really feel about us?”

“About you,” Tadashi corrected irritably.

Aunt Cass ignored him. “Just say it, darling. Don’t be coy.”

Hiro began to feel his heart race and his cheeks heat up. Why were they doing this again? Putting him on the spot like this and expecting him to just clear up all of the problems they’d started for themselves? _Why_ were they doing this? He was going to cry, he was going to run, he was going to _scream_ –

_No. You can do this. You said you could take it. Just tell her the truth, and then maybe she’ll leave you alone for good._

Hiro took a deep, calming breath. His brother was here, he was on his side. Everything was going to be OK. “I don’t love you, Aunt Cass,” he finally said. “Tadashi’s right. You… You _did…_ ruin me.”

Incredibly, she looked like this was news to her. Her eyes widened and her small mouth fell open, like it had been the _last_ thing she had ever wanted to do to him. Hiro didn’t understand her. He didn’t understand how she was so deluded. She used to be so perceptive. He couldn’t even tell if this was all an act or if she _really did_ believe that he could ever love her.

“But… But you never said anything,” she whispered, heartbroken.

It hurt to look at her. He stared at his brother’s face instead. He swallowed hard. “You made it so… difficult to say anything. I-I thought you were just being nice at first… I couldn’t tell… until you… showed me that movie. And then I just felt… so out of my depth, like… I was drowning.”

Something about those words looked like they just made Tadashi _ache._ He walked up the stairs and stood proudly next to his little brother, wrapping an arm securely around him. Hiro liked it. He liked that they were both looking down on Aunt Cass now, two against one. He liked that his brother was being so strong and supportive. He liked the look of _fear_ on Aunt Cass’ face as it dawned on her that she was about to lose her only two nephews.

“How could you,” Tadashi uttered. “We both trusted you. Our _parents_ trusted you. Your _sister…_ What would everyone think? What would they say about you? …You _must’ve_ known what you were doing was wrong.”

Aunt Cass was crying now. But Hiro – even Tadashi – had little sympathy for her. “B-But it had felt _so right_ …”

“Didn’t feel right to me,” Hiro mumbled and he felt Tadashi squeeze him gently.

“You need help, Aunt Cass,” Tadashi continued. “You need serious help. There are professionals out there who deal with people like you, who suffer intimacy deficits… Who need to be taught that children… _nephews…_ are not surrogates for real relationships. You need to face the consequences of your actions, Aunt Cass. First thing tomorrow, Hiro and I are going to report you.”

“Wait, _what?_ ” Hiro turned to him, panicked. “Report her? To the _police?_ ”

Tadashi patted him to try to calm him down. “It’s OK, Hiro.”

“No, no…” He turned his back on Aunt Cass so it was just a private conversation between him and his brother. “I could barely tell _you_ about the abuse – what makes you think I’m gonna be able to tell the _authorities_ what happened?”

Tadashi tried to hold his hand. “Hiro, listen-“

“No, _you_ listen,” he cried. “It’s a miraclethat even _you_ believed me. OK? I’ve spent so much time online, trying to make sense of what happened to me, but do you know how many cases I saw where there was a female relative of some kind, sexually abusing a teenage boy? Like, _none. No_ one believes those stories. Noone is going to believe _me._ ”

Tadashi looked like he wanted to argue with him, but he stopped himself all too quickly. Even _he_ looked like he couldn’t think of any scandalous news items where an older women had been convicted of sleeping with a younger boy. “Fine,” Tadashi conceded, sounding reluctant. “But if you change your mind…”

Hiro grabbed his brother’s hand, wanting to lead him up the stairs to get their things. “Let’s just get out of here,” he said. “Pretend this never happened. Start over. Just you and me.”

Tadashi sighed wearily. “We’ll… have to changeover legal guardianship and-”

“Fine, fine,” Hiro was starting to tug on Tadashi’s arm now. “Let’s worry about that _later._ For now, let’s just-”

“Hiro?” Aunt Cass walked up a step or two so she could see his face. “I… I’m sorry, Hiro. I only ever loved you. I _never_ wanted to hurt you.”

Hiro looked away. He didn’t really want to hear this. It didn’t matter what grand gesture of apology she made; he was still never going to look at her the same way again. He was still leaving and taking his big brother with him.

“…I hope that maybe one day we could all be on good terms again… You could come around to the bakery with Tadashi, and I’d make you both your favourite desserts… Maybe we could catch a movie together sometime…”

No, it was too much. Hiro was getting too emotional again. He’d let his brother take care of the goodbyes for him. “I’ll get the bags,” he murmured and ran back up the stairs.

\-------

When Hiro came back down with one full satchel hanging from his shoulder and another luggage bag in tow, Aunt Cass was nowhere in sight. Whatever Tadashi had said or done in the short time it had taken Hiro to retrieve their belongings… It hadn’t made her stick around to say goodbye to him. Thank God. It was just Tadashi now – sitting at the table, with his cap low over his bruised eye.

“Time to go, buddy,” he said, getting to his feet and taking the luggage bag from Hiro’s hands. He must’ve been deep in thought, distracted. He didn’t even bother to go back upstairs and check that Hiro hadn’t missed anything important of his. He gave a nod towards the exit. “Time to go.”

Hiro hadn’t known at the time, but that was the last time he’d ever set foot in that bakery ever again. He felt so free.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING = heavily implied sexual abuse at the very start of this chapter. To those who want to know before reading: Hiro has a nightmare in which he believes Aunt Cass is sexually assaulting him, which causes him to orgasm. And then that is vaguely alluded to once he's awake (stains, etc)
> 
> Well, this is it, friends. The last chapter. (Sorry if it's bad, I didn't even know how to end this omg). Thank you so much for all the enthusiasm and encouragement you guys gave in the comments - It was actually amazing and unexpected. Maybe I'll do something similar real soon (because why not I had fun).
> 
> The Obligatory PSA = please stay safe, my lovelies. I've briefly studied child sexual abuse, and it's a horrible, degrading, traumatic thing many kids experience. So, I would just like to remind everyone that not every child molester out there is an old man with a mustache who lives down the street - women can be abusers too, and even victims' own family members. Please be aware of red flags, please look out for each other, and please BELIEVE each other because that is one of the most important things you can do for a victim/survivor. Please find responsible adults you can trust and get any help that you or others need <3 Take care, friends!

She was in the room. He could feel it. He couldn’t feel even a smidgeon of his brother’s presence; he could feel nothing but hers. He heard the door swing and click shut. He heard a bolt, followed by several. That was funny; he hadn’t ever remembered having one lock, let alone several, on his door. If he had, then maybe things would’ve played out a little bit differently.

He was on the wrong side, though. Locks were supposed to keep people _out._ Not keep people in.

He couldn’t move, not an inch. Not even to lift his arm or crane. But he felt wide awake. He’d heard of this condition before – sleep paralysis? Was Aunt Cass the demon who visited him in the night?

“ _My little Hiro,_ ” he heard her whisper. He didn’t _dare_ open his eyes. She was right in his ear, chuckling breathlessly, sending sharp, numbing tingles all throughout his body. He tried to shift, even just to roll away from her, but it was as effective as trying to will boulders to move with his mind. She picked up one of his arms and held it, like it was nothing. “ _My darling. I brought you some cake. Are you awake yet?_ ”

Where was his brother? Where was Tadashi? He thought he’d _escaped_ all of this. He had _left. Why was she here?_

She traced little patterns on his palm with her fingertips. The touch was so gentle and persistent that he wanted to _squirm._ He felt hot and sick and aroused. “ _Are you having a happy dream, my darling? Are you dreaming about me?_ ”

 _Help me,_ he tried to cry out. _Tadashi, help me._

“ _Shall I give you an even happier dream?_ ” She giggled – in a way that he’d only ever heard mischievous teenage girls giggle – and he felt her move down his body, sliding her hands down his ribs and stomach to rest at his hips. She started rolling down his PJ pants and underwear, and he was helpless to stop her. The only noises he could utter were whimpers, but, deep down, he was _screaming._ He could only move himself just enough to breathe, but, deep down, he was _thrashing_ and _fighting her._

_This is how it always is. This is what she does. Nothing has changed. I got out, but nothing changed._

It was the most terrifying feeling in the world – being seconds from orgasm and not knowing how.

Hiro awoke with a start. He bolted upright, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. His heart was beating _far_ too fast. His whole body felt hot and trembling and sticky. He touched his clothes and they felt damp with sweat. Sweat and… oh God.

For a split-second he was alarmed as to why he wasn’t waking up in his own bedroom. But he remembered. They hadn’t been able to find a good hotel room, and so they’d called upon the home of one of Tadashi’s friends out of desperation. It was the rich one, with the ridiculously posh manor. Freddy or something. A chill dude. He’d given them a room with a four-poster bed and an armoire and floor-length drapes, with tassels, and painted portraits and a framed mirror and a vanity table and everything. It was like a room straight out of a nineteenth century English castle.

Hiro looked over to the couch where his brother had slept last night, but he wasn’t there anymore. Just a couple of blankets and pillows remained. It was a nice couch, but it wasn’t anywhere near as comfortable as the bed. Honestly, Hiro had said that he didn’t _mind_ if his brother and him slept in the same bed together. But Tadashi had still politely refused.

In hindsight, Hiro thought as he grimaced at his pants, it was probably good that he did.

In the corner, where the curtains were partially pulled to let some natural light in, Tadashi was sitting at an exquisitely carved wooden table – the kind fancy Englishmen took their early morning tea at. But Tadashi barely even had a coffee on him. He had about fifty pages worth of forms before him, and a tired look on his face as he went through them, occasionally scrawling a signature here and there.

Hiro slipped out of the large bed and reached for yesterday’s hoodie. It was long enough that it would hide any stains on his pants. He walked over to inspect the forms. Something about tutoring at the Institute, something about renting, something about an extension, something about legal guardianship…

Hiro looked into Tadashi’s eyes. He looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep all night. His long-suffering big brother, who had been forced to adopt all of these new responsibilities on top of all his amazing work…

Hiro couldn’t help it. He started to feel selfish. Like he’d ruined his big brother’s life. Like he should’ve just waited it out until his brother had finished his study. Like he never should’ve complained. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m really sorry, Tadashi…”

It took his older brother a few seconds to withdraw his focus from the forms and put the pen down. There was no change in his expression as he stared at Hiro. “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Hiro,” he said quietly. “You did nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault.”

“I still feel bad, though,” he admitted, staring at the cold floorboards. “I still feel like… I’m awful… for… I dunno. Letting it all happen to me in the first place…?” It sounded so stupid. Hiro didn’t know the specifics of how he felt. He should’ve just stopped trying.

He turned to go back to bed, feeling like he didn’t want to do anything else today, when Tadashi called him back. “Hiro.” Tadashi was wearing a hesitant expression now. It was almost scared. “Are you… OK?”

“Yeah,” Hiro lied. What answer was his brother even expecting? “Why?”

“…Bad dream?”

“Oh…” Hiro looked down and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. So he wasn’t as silent as he thought he’d been. His cheeks burned red. “Um… Yeah, just a stupid dream, that’s all…”

He crawled back into the plush bed and reopened a game on his hand-held console. He tried to look like he was too immersed in pixelated battles to keep talking, but he knew that his brother was still staring at him.

“Hiro, maybe we should consider some… therapy, or something.”

“Therapy?” Hiro made a disgusted face at the tiny screen before him. “Uh, thanks, but… I think I’ll be OK. Sounds expensive anyway.”

Tadashi sighed as he pulled himself up out of the chair and laid down beside his little brother. Hiro tried hard to ignore him. “I just want you to be OK again, Hiro,” he said softly. “You’re a smart kid. You’re destined for greatness. I don’t want this to be the thing that… takes that away from you, and stops you from thriving. I want to see you produce ingenious inventions again. I know it’s such a core part of who you are that you’re not really _you_ when you’re not creating things…”

He put out a hand to touch Hiro’s knee, but Hiro witnessed him _hesitate._

There was a lot of that last night, Hiro remembered. Tadashi always hesitated whenever he touched him now. Not even a week ago, Tadashi had no problem whatsoever just grabbing his little brother and swinging him around playfully, even if he was being shouted at to cut it out. It was that kind of rough-and-tumble play that Hiro loved. He felt like he was losing the carefree, fun, and teasing part of their relationship, which was a big part of it.

Even in gestures of support and affection, Tadashi was having trouble expressing them in physically-contacting ways.

And not just that, but the _looks._ All last night, after they’d arrived at the manor and were just settling into their new room, Hiro would catch his older brother staring at him, when he thought he wasn’t looking. His expression was always so… silently shocked and horrified. There was a lot of disgust there too. It was like, every time Tadashi looked at his little brother now, he could visualise all of the things Aunt Cass said she’d done to him. Aunt Cass and Hiro. His trusted Aunt and innocent little brother.

It had been silent for a while. Wherever Tadashi was going with that speech, he’d dropped it now. Hiro peeked at him to see that he was wearing that exact same expression. He wished that his brother wouldn’t. It only reminded him of what he’d been through. “Stop looking at me like that,” he asked in a low, embarrassed voice.

Tadashi blinked, suddenly present again. “What?”

“I said, stop looking at me like that. It… makes me uncomfortable.”

Tadashi twisted his mouth up into a nervous smile. “Sorry, Hiro. Just… thinking…”

“Yeah, I know what you were thinking,” Hiro uttered under his breath. He heaved a great sigh. “Look, it was just a stupid, gross dream, OK? It doesn’t mean anything. I’m fine. I don’t need that kind of help.”

“It’s OK to ask for help,” Hiro was reminded and he rolled his eyes. “And you can always change your mind later. If you have any more dreams, or… I don’t know. Things don’t improve on their own, then… We’ll do something.” He paused for a moment. Then, completely out of the blue, he said, “I love you, Hiro.”

Hiro glanced up, surprised. “You what?”

Tadashi was trying to smile. “I said I love you, Hiro… I don’t know,” he laughed a little, “I just thought it might be something you’d like to hear right now.”

“Yeah, because loveis one thing I _definitely_ didn’t get enough of back home.”

“Wha…” The smile was gone. Instantly, Tadashi’s eyes welled with tears. “Hiro, I-I’m _sorry,_ I-I didn’t _mean to_ -“

“Kidding!” Hiro raised his hands up innocently. _Christ,_ he’d only meant to make his brother flustered, not break open the waterworks. “I was kidding… Ha ha… Thanks, bro, I love you too! That was real nice of you to say, just when I needed it…”

But it didn’t make Tadashi stop crying. If anything, it made him cry harder. _Twice_ in two days. God, Hiro hated to think that he had been holding back on him all this time. He must’ve been so _stressed._ “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with you,” Tadashi blubbered through the tears while Hiro did his best to soothe him. “ _Fuck,_ ” he cried out suddenly, startling Hiro. “I _so_ wanted to be strong for you. I wanted to be to you what Aunt Cass was to us when our parents died. But it’s _so hard to…_ ” His head fell into his hands. He seemed to be crying harder and harder by the second. Hiro was sympathetic at first but now he just felt _scared_ for his brother.

“Dashi,” Hiro whimpered, wrapping an arm around him as best he could. “You’re doing a _great job._ OK? You were wrong about yourself – you _are_ a good big brother.”

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he continued, and Hiro strained to hear him. “I’ve never been on my own like this. I’ve always had help. I’ve always had Aunt Cass, and now…”

Hiro sighed. It was weird how they could both have completely different impressions of her. Hiro could barely remember the last time she had actually acted like a proper Aunt should. But, he supposed, that was _all_ Tadashi could remember.

“…Look, why don’t you see your friends or something?” Hiro tried to roll his older brother into an upright position. “Go talk to Freddy or whoever, get those other nerds around here, and have a good time. Forget those forms for a day or two – they can wait.” He tried to think of what Tadashi would say in this situation, if he was his normal self and not a complete and total wreck. Years of watching him be the calming voice of reason had Hiro doing a pretty good imitation. “I think what matters most right now is that we both just… get used to our new lives away from home for a bit.”

Tadashi sat up, just as Hiro had directed him. He was already starting to calm down again. Of course, Hiro would’ve preferred that it was because his words were _actually_ motivating his brother to seek the support of his peers. But there was no guarantee that he wasn’t just trying to “be strong” for Hiro and suppress all of his anxieties again.

“Yeah,” he said croakily, smiling. “I think some friends might do us some good right about now… No one ever said it’d be easy, right?”

Hiro smiled back. “It’ll get easier. Just… hang in there.”

“I should be saying that to you,” Tadashi laughed, wiping at his eyes.

“Yeah. You should.” Hiro bopped him lightly on the head. “Awful brother…” He quickly added, “That was a joke – don’t start crying again.”

\--------

Things did become easier over time, for both of them. It had been incredibly hard at first. Hiro still woke up feeling vile and used, just like he did when he’d spent that first night with her. He still got sick whenever he so much as looked at cake. He still couldn’t even think about sex without being assaulted by those disturbing memories he _so_ wanted to forget. Some things were definitely tougher than others.

But he doubted he would’ve even made it this far without the love and support of his big brother. The new changes in their lives had been hard on him too; Tadashi struggled to keep his fantastic grades as well as maintaining a well-paying job – not to mention becoming his little brother’s new, non-abusive, non-opportunistic legal guardian.

Fortunately, it didn’t take Hiro very long to get his spark back. Without the looming threat of Aunt Cass, Hiro had found himself feeling a lot more _bored_ than he did in a state of perpetual limbo. It didn’t take Hiro long to pick back up his old projects and spend entire nights tinkering and inventing – just doing what he loved to do, and what he was destined to do. He was even looking at potential ideas to showcase for the Institute of Technology next year – to convince them that they had made a _big_ mistake by not taking him in a moment sooner.

Things were so good now. They weren’t perfect, but they were close. Hiro could clearly remember that afternoon, after months of no new ideas or inventions, when he’d decided that he would just tell his brother what was going on. He could remember staring out the window and thinking, _I could just throw myself down there, into oncoming traffic, and no one would care._

He was glad that he’d made the right choice. He was glad his brother had believed in him. Things could’ve easily been a lot darker otherwise…


End file.
